Finding the Right Path
Every year I go out and buy my favorite calendar, “Cat Lovers Against the Bomb.” It’s put out by a peace group in Nebraska. Every month has a great cat photo and a peace-related quotation or proverb. One of these has stuck with me for years. A black cat stalks along the side of a building; below the picture is a Chinese proverb: “If we do not change our direction, we will wind up where we’re headed.” It reminds me to assess my life, to look at how I’m living and think about where I’m going. Maybe it’s time to change my goals, or to find more effective ways to achieve them. If I look at where my life is leading me, I might find out that it’s not really where I want to go. It’s the same thing Dante describes in the very first stanza of The Divine Comedy. Midway in life’s journey, he found himself in a dark wood; the right path was completely lost. We’re closing in fast on Ash Wednesday and Lent, our time to examine our lives, to find out if we’re on the right path and maybe make some course corrections. The early Christians spoke of their faith as “the Way.” St. Gertrude’s has a couple of Lenten traditions that can help us on our Way. One of them is the small faith sharing groups meeting weekly, just for Lent. Participating in one of these groups is one way to help us to figure out where we’re headed. Another tradition is the Lenten Simple Suppers followed by prayer in church. This is another chance to stop and take stock of our lives.
Mary Grover for Growing in Faith
Filed under: Growing In Faith
