Friday, May 15, 2009

Sometimes

The school's maintenance man (Perry) shared this poem with me today. I had been discussing my faith challenges... with the house and the job and the... and the...

Sometimes I get all geared up to face the challenges, and frankly, I am ready. I have, for the most part, moved on to a place that is OK with the challenges. I don't get so discouraged with the things that go wrong, so much so that I just start with assuming that they will go wrong.

"I am ready for the suffering Lord. Oh, Yes, I am ready! I don't want it, but I am ready for it! I know that I will be OK if the house doesn't sell right away, and if I don't get the job I am dreaming of, and if... and if..."

...and maybe that is why my friend shared this poem with me.

Sometimes
by Sheenagh Pugh

Sometimes things don’t go, after all.
from bad to worse. Some years, muscadel
faces down frost; green thrives; the crops don’t fail,
sometimes a man aims high, and all goes well.

A people sometimes will step back from war;
elect an honest man; decide they care
enough, that they can’t leave some stranger poor.
Some men become what they were born for.

Sometimes our best efforts do not go
amiss; sometimes we do as we meant to.
The sun will sometimes melt a field of sorrow
that seemed hard frozen: may it happen to you.

It is important, as we gear ourselves up to trust, to remember that it isn't always going to be a challenge. Sometimes things work out the easy way. Sometimes things go smooth. Even in the Bible, aren't the lion's mouths shut, sometimes? Don't people, sometimes, make it through the fiery furnace? Aren't there a few stories where the prisoner in a foreign land makes it all the way through the ranks to become the second in command? Don't these things happen that way... sometimes?

So, today I am hoping for a good report. I am Ok with whichever outcome God brings me. My hopes are not up, but they are also not scraping on the floor. I bring my requests to Him, but I also say, with so many other saints before me, "... but let Your will be done."

Does anyone know what a muscadel is?

2 comments:

  1. Great blog!

    Muscadel is a type of wine made from Muscat grapes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My janitor's name is Mario. He is a man of God as well, and often comes to "visit" me when I am feeling down. How does he know?

    ReplyDelete

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