The Deacon’s View
Crossroads


This picture was printed in a Sunday bulletin picked up by Amanda and Fred Stimson when they attended the Chapel of the Transfiguration in Moose, Wyoming.  I gaze at it every day, and try to keep its profound message in my heart and mind.  It reminds me that in every moment I stand at a sacred crossroad...a place of choice.  It helps me to see how easily and rapidly I can race past these crossing places, sort of like running through one spiritual yellow light after another.


Learning to pause and to literally stand still, to look in both directions before I plunge ahead is a hard discipline.  To stop and ask, ‘which is the “good” way?’, and then, just as importantly, learning to pause in order to discern an answer, does not come easily for me.  In fact, this whole effort often gives rise to an intense inner struggle.

Over the past month, carrying this small meditation has helped me to identify a number of routine crossroads that I come to daily.  I see how quickly I can opt for the “easy” or the “comfortable” choice without even considering that inner peace and soul-filling joy are the rewards born out of choosing God’s “good “ way.

All of this comes down to disciplining myself, over and over again, to pay attention to the numerous small moments, when the world’s many distractions hold the power to pull me off course, to miss the blessing of God’s best.  At these sacred crossroads, we stand on the verge of the world without end.            Blessings,
                            Gay +