Allowing Ourselves to Be Surprised

The poet David Whyte says, “I think that a life sincerely followed is always surprising and leads you into places that you did not feel you could either enter or deserve … [you must] allow yourself to be surprised at where you have arrived.”

This statement certainly applies to people with a vocation to religious life. I myself am surprised that I arrived back at the Mount 30+ years after initially deciding it wasn’t the right place for me! However, I did sincerely follow the thread of prayer and desire for community that wove through my life, so I shouldn’t have been surprised to be surprised.

Scripture shows us that people who enter into a relationship with God often end up in surprising places. I’m sure Jacob’s son Joseph didn’t expect to be transported to Egypt, the prophet Jonah didn’t expect to land in the belly of a whale, and Jesus’ mother Mary didn’t expect to be unmarried and pregnant. We can gather from these stories that God often calls us to serve in unexpected ways, for “my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Isaiah 55:8). Although we may not feel up to the task we are asked to perform and often would prefer another one, God knows us better than we know ourselves and understands our capabilities and the challenges we need to grow into fullness of life.

We like to think of God as unchanging, because that idea gives us comfort in trying times. Certainly God’s love, mercy, and presence are constant, but often they appear in our lives in surprising ways, because God is always making things new. Trying to control our lives every step along the way restricts us to the limits of our own imagination and prevents us from experiencing the joy and delight that await us when we discover the surprises God has in store for us.