I love surprises. I never wanted to peek at Christmas. My brother, however, always wanted to. My daughter is like her uncle, she doesn’t much like surprises either and I know that she knew every hiding place for presents in the house. My mother liked surprises too and I guess that is where I get it from.
It seems that we are called to be surprised if we are called to be followers of the Eternal. Surprised by the beauty of a sunrise, a sunset, how beautiful our significant other is, on their worst day! But that means we have to pay attention, it means we have to look for the beauty. Patricia Lunetta writes a poem about the end of the day, about seeing a blue heron and taking the time to watch the great bird. She ends the poem with this:
“Stay awake, Holiness may spread its wings for you at any moment.”
I read those words and think, “how many times have I slept through Holiness?” How much have I missed by letting the day rule me instead of me ruling my days? Would the world really end if I took a few minutes to enjoy, to be surprised? And what if I turned my phone off, would anything so terribly important happen? I need to wake up and stay awake longer.
Surprises are all around us but we have to look for them. We have to believe in them. We have to hope for them. I have been surprised by the kindness of people I met in India. Their hospitality is amazing, even the poorest of people practice hospitality. I have been surprised by the resiliency of people who have been through so much and still can find joy, like the terribly poor children of Alexander Township in South Africa, playing and laughing in abject poverty.
I am making a pact with myself, to watch for the Eternal, for Holiness as often as possible and then a little more. I am reminded of the New Testament story of the bridesmaids. Half prepared for a longer wait, half did not. The ones who were prepared with enough oil for their lamps were surprised by the joy of meeting the bridegroom and being part of the wedding. That parable was about looking for, no, planning for being surprised.
So, I think I am going to keep enough oil on hand so that when the surprises come, I can light my lamp and see the surprise. Actually, that happens every morning, at Dawn, when all of creation has the lights turned on with the sunrise and we can see all of the surprises the Eternal has to offer.
TMM