mark tidsworth

Sometimes we come to a segment of our journey which we despise. These segments are filled with suffering, problems, loss, illness, deprivation…or whatever additional human discomfort we might imagine or experience. So when we enter one of these segments of life’s journey, we do what our kind tends to do – try everything we can to bypass this segment. Surely there is a way around, over, under, or otherwise escaping this terribly uncomfortable ongoing journey. So we go to God. We plead our case. We ask for another route to travel. We grow frustrated and rage. We grow weary and collapse. We “work it” until we realize God (and life) are not at our beck and call. The journey we are on is the journey we are given. God is not rescuing us this time. We have to grow up and live in the now, walking the road we are on. Ours is to learn how to deal with the journey as it is. Chronic illness, financial stress, relationship angst, under-employment, the ongoing human condition…whatever it is, we realize this is our road to travel. That’s when our calling comes down to three words. Three words which lead to a certain kind of hard-won, ragged peace.

Accept. Embrace. Walk.

Where to from here, O God?

Accept

Accept life as you know it

Accept life as you find it

This is the road you are given

You must walk this road before you can walk another

You must learn the rhythms and ruts and undulations of this road

Lay aside your hesitation; your dislike for this road

Lay aside your expectations that life should be different

Lay aside your resistance to walking this road

Embrace

Embrace life as you know it

Embrace life as you find it

Your way through is through

Go beyond acceptance to engagement

You must actively absorb the lessons of this road

Embrace this road as it is

Lean into this journey

Let go the baggage of expectations and embrace the present

Lay aside preference and embrace the now

Proactively embrace the place, people, ethos on this road

You must do this

You know you must do this

You know this in your soul, deep down in your bones

You are terribly clear on this calling

Walk

Now, walk

And the peace of God

Ragged, hard-won, brutal at times – yet peace nevertheless

Amen