Hoping For 'exceptionally Faith-filled Days' Ahead
It’s 10:30 a.m. in Jasper and Loogootee as I write this; it’s 9:30 a.m. in Haubstadt and Poseyville.
It’s Nov. 8 – election day.
By the time you read this, we all will know the outcome of the election. None of us know it as I write this. That’s actually why I chose to write this column – for a paper that won’t be published for another 10 days – now.
To be sure, many people will not like the voting results – regardless of who wins. There will be angst … Lord have mercy, plenty of angst. It will be founded in the uncertainty of what lies ahead. Heck. I’m feeling that now just because there are still hours left to vote as these words appear on my computer screen.
For me, comfort comes from three things I have read in the past 48 hours. The first is found in the opening paragraph of Cardinal-designate Joseph W. Tobin’s statement to the people Indianapolis regarding his appointment as the new archbishop of Newark, N.J.
“One of my favorite descriptions of the experience of faith is ‘a willingness to be surprised by God,’” he wrote on Nov. 7. “By that standard, the last weeks have been exceptionally ‘faith-filled.’”
Shouldn’t we all expect those kinds of faith-filled days – especially moving forward? I have little doubt that God will surprise those who are feeling as though the outcome of this election has ruined their lives – AND those who are feeling as though the outcome was akin to hitting the Powerball lottery.
Life experience proves time and time again that things are never as bad – or as good – as they appear.
The second item I read is part of a Vatican Radio report on Pope Francis’ homily during his Nov. 8 Santa Marta Mass. In it, the Holy Father talked about dishonesty and the pursuit of power.
“These obstacles of dishonesty and the pursuit of power, the Pope said, take away our peace of mind and leave us anxious, with an ‘itch’ in our hearts,” Vatican Radio reported. “In this way, he said, we live in constant tension, concerned only about appearances and the worldly desires of fame and fortune. We cannot serve the Lord like this, he insisted, so we ask to be freed from these obstacles in order that we may find serenity of body and mind.”
Take these two items, and add them to the closing sentences of the first reading of the day for Nov. 8 – from St. Paul’s letter to Titus.
“For the grace of God has appeared, saving all and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age,as we await the blessed hope,the appearance of the glory of the great God and of our savior Jesus Christ,who gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people as his own,eager to do what is good” – Titus 2: 11-14.
Moving forward, let us all expect and welcome the surprises God has in store for us; let us find serenity in mind and body; and let us wake up every day eager to do what is good.
Think about it … we can accomplish all of that no matter who lives in the White House.
