October 11, The Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
One day while working in my office and listening to the radio, I heard a familiar song from many years ago, Thank God I’m A Country Boy by John Denver. Some of you of a certain vintage may recall this upbeat country like song from the mid-1970s.(I really am dating myself!!!) The line in the refrain which caught my attention was Life ain’t nothing but a funny funny riddle. At that moment, my thoughts simply said, “ain’t that the truth!.”
During a given day, or a certain passage of time, we have events impacting our lives which are totally unexpected with no clear or certain answers. We are often blindsided by them. How often have we exclaimed in surprise, “You can’t make this stuff up.” We learn the twists-and turns-of life are infinite. When we examine our histories, most of us would declare we traveled paths we never expected to journey on. So, as John Denver sings, and we could join in with him, “life ain’t nothing but a funny funny riddle.” —and add “Amen” to that.
We do desire peaceful days and straight paths during our lives and pray for the “cup of chaos” to pass us by. The bad news is that desire is often an illusion. Don’t hold your breath because mayhem is coming as Dean Winters warns in the Allstate Insurance television commercials.
Faced with these events, I have appreciated the advice of spiritual writer Henri Nouwen who suggests we pray through these events of life. We bring the unexpected circumstances to prayer asking for God’s grace to unpack, help us make sense, and possibly solve the riddles of life. God’s wisdom should be our desire to respond and react, with faith guiding us. Praying through them can make the rough edges a bit smoother and less abrasive, leading to better understanding and acceptance. So, in the end, we pray and don’t become frustrated or hopeless.
Scripture makes known to us the hidden and unknown paths in life. Those paths which lead to riddles and question marks:
“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!” – Romans 11:33
“Who has known the mind of God? To Him be glory forever.” – Based on Romans 11:34 and the song Who Has Known by John Foley, S.J.
As we address our uncertainties and complexities, we bring them to our prayer lives, believing that God can bring meaning and understanding to them, leading us in faith, bringing rich outcomes to the question marks which often fill our days.