Yesterday I ate supper with seven young women from Notre
Dame de Sion high school who are at Sophia Center for a Kairos retreat. One aspect
of the retreat they have found challenging is that they aren’t given a schedule,
so they can’t anticipate what is to come. My impression is that these girls
like to be prepared for any contingency, as the conversation later drifted to
where they would go in the event of a zombie apocalypse (Costco was the
unanimous choice).
You’d think as Christians we would become accustomed to not
being able to anticipate the future, because God’s ways are not our ways. As
Woody Allen said, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.” This
sentiment is similarly expressed in the Book of Wisdom, which says that we “do
not know the hidden counsels of God.” It’s frustrating to be part of the
evolution of the kingdom of God without having a clear understanding of how we
fit into that progression. It requires trust to believe that, although we may
not understand why, we are meant to be where we are at this particular time, at
this particular place, and with these particular people. When we trust God’s
unfolding plans and counsels, we can honor the present moment by giving it our
full attention without longing for or regretting the past or worrying about the
future—even if it does include a zombie apocalypse.
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