SURPRISE ME

There is a story about Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, brilliant and at times a little absent-minded, riding on a train when he sees the conductor approaching. Furiously he starts to look for his ticket, which he has apparently misplaced. When the conductor spots him with a troubled look on his face, he says, “Don’t worry about the ticket, Mr. Justice. I know you and trust you.” Justice Holmes responds, “You don’t understand. I need to find my ticket. Without it, I don’t know where I am going.”

Where are we going? The answer lies in part in who we believe we are…our dreams and convictions. And also in believing whose we are. In the early days of Christianity, the movement by those who built their lives around Jesus was called “the way”. Many religions have long called themselves “the way”. So, in general, to know where we are going depends on whose way we profess to follow.

Some of us may want a more specific plan of life…a discernment of our vocation. Psalm 139 says, “You knit me in my mother’s womb.” And the Book of Jeremiah states, “I chose you…Before you were born I dedicated you.” These seem to confirm that we each have a call from God. Thus, discovering our particular call ~ our ticket ~ will shed light on the path we are meant to follow.

Now some may believe that God has a specific plan for each of us, and that perhaps God somehow micro-manages life to direct our journey. And they may be right. I believe that God has gifted each of us, in many and diverse ways, and invites our collaboration.

My favorite image of God is that of a Grand Artist, who says to each of us, “Would you help me to create a masterpiece in you? Would you help me make a masterpiece of the world?” I don’t know of any artist who would say to me, “Frank, would you help me finish the Sistine Chapel? Or the Ninth Symphony? Or any other work of art?” And yet God invites each of us to be equal partners in the creation of the masterpiece that we and the world can be. WHAT GREAT TRUST GOD HAS IN US!!!

How do we discover how best to co-create this masterpiece? One sage offered the following counsel: “Know what you are good at, what you like to do, and what the world needs.” Another put it more simply saying that all we need to do is to ask ourselves one little question..."What do they need?" Thomas Merton went to the Source and wrote a simple prayer, which briefly says, “God I don’t know what you want me to do. I don’t even know if what I am doing pleases you. But I do know that my desire to please you pleases you.”

Sometimes, in our desire to please God and to find meaning in our life, we may try too hard to find the perfect ticket…that perfect vocation that we think God intends for us, rather than simply discovering our gifts and talents and using them in the most life-giving way. I have a dear friend who once said to me, “Frank, you seem to know what God wants from you. But I have prayed and prayed and still have no clue.” My response was, “Maybe God is saying to you, ‘Why don’t you surprise me?’”

How would YOU like to surprise God? How does it feel to know of God’s great confidence in you? If you really believed in God’s great trust in you, is there any masterpiece that would be too challenging?