A Concord Pastor Comments: Monday Morning Offering: 1/9

Image: George Mendoza

Good morning, good God!

There are times, Lord,
driving down the highway, when
after a stretch of miles
I realize I've not been watching the road
or its twists and turns;
I've not paid attention to other cars
or trucks or signs;
and yet somehow I've made my way here,
from somewhere way back there,
without ending up in a ditch - or worse...

I might have been listening to music
or sorting through my roaming thoughts,
toying with ideas tooling through my mind
or just quietly moving down the highway
in the silence of the chapel of my car...

What part of me was watching,
attending to the traffic all around me,
as I made my way, not losing my way,
from somewhere way back there
'til I snapped to here, to the present,
to this moment, now, with you?

Or was it me at all, Lord?
Was it me at the wheel or you, my copilot,
safely steering me through danger
and keeping me from doing harm to others
who share my journey and a common road?

Or perhaps it was your Spirit, guiding me
when I was all but blind to danger's curves
and signs to exits that I might have, should have,
could have, did or didn't take...

As on the highway, so in my soul
you ride beside me, Lord,
protecting me along the way and getting me
from where I was,
past peril I fail to see,
to where I'm going:
to where I need to be,
to where you want me to be...

I offer you my thanks for what you do
when I'm not looking, Lord,
when I'm nodding off in life,
paying no attention
when I should be wide awake...

I offer you my thanks for your direction, Lord,
for all the times you nudge and prod
and sometimes grab the wheel
and steer me out of harm's way,
keeping me on the road you've mapped
for my journey through this life...

I offer you my thanks, Lord, for moments of awareness,
of coming to, of finding that I've come from way back there
to here and that without your presence, your help,
your Spirit and your hand upon the wheel,
I never would have made it safe thus far...

Stay by my side, Lord, and be my compass, my map,
my GPS, the atlas of the roads where life might take me
and help me know
and show me where
I need to be
and where I need to go,
to stay right by your side and never leave the road
you've charted for my peace...

Lord, receive my morning offering
and let my journey do no harm
to those with whom I share your road
today, tonight and through the week ahead...

Amen.