Confined by the prison of time and space, my own little box of existence, it’s so easy to begin thinking that life is no more than a random series of events. Surely set in motion and even presently acted on by my Creator, but still I’m pretty much on whatever course I choose as long as I don’t offend Him.
Then there are times like this past week. In the course of four days events from the past and present converged on me in such a way that denying His present, active role in human events, in my life personally would be the height of folly.
Day one brought me an unexpected letter from an inmate in a local prison, explaining that he and several others had been transferred from a prison across the country and had been practically set on my doorstep for me to find a way to minister them. He had been given my name by a close friend who had developed an ongoing prison ministry with them in another state. I guess it’s my turn. :-)
Day two had me stumbling upon a website I had never seen before. It was devoted to helping “victims of abuse” of a religious organization I had once been part of 25 years ago. It brought back a lot of memories and emotions, some pleasant, but mostly unpleasant. It was a chapter of my life mostly left in the past, but never far away I suppose.
Day four brought news that the leader of the religious organization mentioned in the above website had become critically ill; a man who had at one time been a spiritual mentor, and defender of the Faith. A man I at one time had a great deal of respect for. A man that in my estimation had lost sight of the true meaning of truth and love for the sake rigidness and order. Still, I can’t deny my love for him even after all these years.
By the way, the close friend who had developed the prison ministry is the son of the man who has become critically ill.
Suddenly people and events that were barely in my consciousness a week ago have all taken center stage in my life. People that I either didn’t know or haven’t thought about in 25 years.
The strangest part of all of this is that friends and acquaintances presently in my life can only share in these events in some peripheral way. The only thing they know of my life from 25 years ago is the brief glimpses I’ve chosen to share with them. But there is no common experience, no emotional attachment, and so no possibility of them really understanding the impact these current events are having and will have on me and my family.
Yet we are truly the sum of our lives. One event added to another on the narrow pathway of life. All designed by our Father to lead us to Him if we are willing to believe it is more than just randomness and coincidence. Both past and present, people from then, people from now, people we are yet to meet, cross our paths in a grand plan to form us into our full potential. We are being molded into citizens of an Eternal Kingdom.
The unexpected turns in life are only unexpected from our perspective; from our prisons of time and space. From an eternal perspective everything is going as planned.