Pastoral Though--June 2

One of the joys from my D.Min work at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary is finding new voices that speak truth to me. These voices call me to reflect on major issues and moments in my life, but more importantly, I think, they invite me to consider ordinary moments and choices differently. We are all comfortable at some level thinking about big issues and how we’d handle them. We can paint with a broad brush that ends suffering, rioting, and spreads the gospel effectively. But then when the mental-exercise is over, we find ourselves no different and life continues. But what if we could look at our day differently? What would we learn?

Today, I offer to you the words of the Rev. Dr. L. Roger Owens from an essay he wrote entitled Uncertainty about the (Earthy) Future. The way in which Roger writes is helpful to me, and I hope this exert from an essay I read helps you as you face the big issues of life today, as well as, the little that come right along side. He wrote:

“Sometimes Celtic Christians would set out on a journey in a small boat called a coracle—a vessel with no rudder, sails, or oars—to travel wherever the waves of the sea and the Spirit of God led. That image of sailing in a coracle provides a wonderful metaphor for life. Every day, when your feet hit the floor and slide into your slippers, and you shuffle into the kitchen to pour the coffee, you are already in a coracle, the Celtic tradition teaches—on an adventure into an unknown future, however known the journey seems, however well-planned the day. The Celtic notion of life as a journey invites a shift in perspective: each moment becomes a fresh, fathomless mystery, a wave you’ve never ridden, a surf you’ve never sailed. A boat never travels the same river twice. Every earthly future is uncertain."

We like to control, or think we control, a lot of aspects of our lives. But, as Roger tells us, perhaps we don’t. Perhaps we are not meant to. I hope you will take some time today and consider life in the coracle in which you sail. 

Blessings

Rev. Derek