A Concord Pastor Comments: Monday Morning Offering: 6/10

Image: George Mendoza

Good morning, good God!

There are times, Lord,
driving down the highway, when
after a stretch of miles I'm not really sure
if I've been watching the road
and all its twists and turns;
if I've paid attention
to other vehicles and to road signs;
if I've been aware
of all of what's ahead of and behind me...

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 as I made my way,
not losing my way,
from somewhere way back there
'til I came to, here, in the present,
in 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?

Was it perhaps 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 on the road of life,
paying little or no attention
when I should be wide awake, alert...

I offer 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 thanks, Lord, for moments of awareness,
of coming to, of finding that somehow
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 all 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.