Wednesday, February 26, 2020

40 Days of Embracing Uncertainty - Day 1 (for Wednesday, February 26)

Here's the usual mode of operation at our house when I come home after being at the office all day... the cat that occupies space will sit in the kitchen and watch me.  The cat will just sit there and stare.  I can make eye contact, but I don't really want to.  After a few moments, when I've settled in the kitchen stool to talk with Nancy about her and my day, the cat will always (and I mean always) get up and walk underneath my feet, swishing the tail across my lower legs.  I realize that the cat knows this annoys me to no end, but it matters little.  This cat loves to - lives to - bug me.  It's the cat's mission in life.


This routine happens every day without fail.  Every... single... day.   It must be a part of the cat's rhythm of life.  

As I begin this Lenten series and stating that I would blog each day for forty days during Lent, I am very aware that this hope of blogging every day and the success of it will depend upon my own ability to sustain a rhythm... to develop the routine of blogging every... single... day.  I've heard it said that if you want to change your behavior for any one thing you need to repeat it successfully for 21 days.  Makes sense.  I plan on doing this for 40 days.  

The resource I am using is the Lenten devotional booklet called "Embracing the Uncertain".  The first day of the devotional is focused on the transfiguration of Jesus on the mountaintop, there with three of his disciples.  It was anything but a routine event.  The main point of the devotion is that we are invited to watch and wait upon God for direction and purpose and not be so bent on moving forward all the time.  Watch and wait for God to give the direction for movement and see what happens.  

It's solid advice.  It's also harder to follow than we might think.  Generally, I am a person of action.  I want to see results much quicker than they often come.  I can get impatient.  Sometimes, I will break the ranks and make mistakes when I rely only on my impulses to carry me through.  Does that resonate with you?  Jesus told the disciples that they were not to share the story of what happened on the mountaintop until after the Son of Man was raised from the dead.  In short, keep watching me - Jesus seems to be saying - keep following, keep learning and when the resurrection happened, then they could act and tell the world.

Maybe I can learn something from the cat and the rhythm of a cat's life.  Watch, wait, then act when ready.  This is going to require some discipline and a lot or prayer.

It might be the only thing I might ever learn from this cat.

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