Reflection
Retirement has opened my mornings to new beginnings. One has been walking the beach, getting my steps on the wet sand. I notice the many sets of footprints left in the sand of those going before me each morning. I sometimes see prints diverting from the usual north-south direction. I wonder where they might lead, why the owner changed direction, and how that diversion turned out.
The mornings are more brisk now. Christmas is approaching. Catalogs are filling my mailbox. “Must haves” come in all sizes, all colors, and promise to make my life better beyond measure. Sometimes I even grab my laptop or phone to order before a little voice asks, “Why?” Perhaps it will be another gift under the tree for a loved one to open. Sometimes the old phrase “more is better” plays in my brain. Sometimes it’s the need not to be the only one without the latest and greatest in my circle of friends.
At this time in my life, my need for things is minimal. Time, and especially the recent pandemic, has helped differentiate between my “wants” and my “needs”. It can be difficult to trust that what I really need is often within myself, within my relationships, within my capacity to give. It can be difficult to hear what God is telling me that I need – sometimes because I’m doing all the talking in prayer and not listening, sometimes because I don’t want to accept His answer. In today’s first reading we hear from Isaiah, “The Lord will give you the bread you need and the water for which you thirst.” But, oh, sometimes it’s not festooned with pretty ribbons! Sometimes it requires me to work harder than I want. Sometimes it leads my life in a different direction, with different priorities than I anticipated. Isaiah continues, “…a voice shall sound in your ears, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’” These are the times I reflect on those footprints in the sand – Am I following His path or mine? When I question, I take heart and read again the words from today’s Psalm 147, “…to his wisdom there is no limit.”
Susan Hause ‘70
Diocese of San Diego Educator, Retired