By Cheryl Saur of St Charles, Missouri USA
What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome.
I dreamed one night that as I was approaching my “house,” my eyes were drawn to the doorknob on the front door. I examined the knob and then opened the door. There was a lot of activity going on, and as I walked through my house, my eyes began to focus on each room’s doorknob. As I proceeded, I noticed that some of the doorknobs did not work, and the doors remained closed. I remember being curious about why these doors were fitted with the wrong doorknobs and wouldn’t open! Later, in reflecting upon my dream, I began to wonder what the wrong doorknobs represented.
While reading Let Your Life Speak, by Parker J. Palmer, a particular chapter entitled “When One Way Closes” jumped out at me. In his experience, he shared that many times more guidance for our lives will be found in what does not or cannot happen rather than what can and does happen. Immediately, I recalled my doorknob dream. Maybe it wasn’t about the doorknobs being wrong, or the way a door is being opened, or even entering a new “room” or experience when an “anticipated” way is closed. Maybe it was more about what God is inviting us to discover in the present moment?
What a paradox! If a way closes, leave it closed! Intentionally, take a sacred pause and turn away from what is closed. Lean into that closure as an invitation to see with new eyes. Notice what is happening all around you now…where do you feel the Spirit moving? What other opportunities is God opening to you right now? Another way might not be available to you yet. But the entire landscape of your soul is still wide open if you are patient and hopeful! I imagine you will find that God is already providing you with new insights even in your uncertainty.
Way open or way closed? It doesn’t matter…God is a God of the present moment. Rest in this sacred moment. The eyes of your heart will soon begin to see the vast reality of what God is already providing for you.
“Now in this moment, now in this day,
God is creating and leading the way;
life is behind us, life is before;
we write the story not heard before.” —Barbara and Richard Howard, CCS 96
Prayer Phrase
“…he has given us a new birth into a living hope” (1 Peter 1:3).
Spiritual Practice
Weaving a Life
Hold, or imagine yourself holding, a piece of patterned cloth. Examine it carefully. Notice overlapping threads mingling colors that form the design. Write a journal entry or meditate about the threads and patterns of your life. What design do you see? How does the life pattern you are weaving create justice and wholeness in God’s world? What new pattern is God calling you to weave in 2025?
Today’s Prayer for Peace
Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.