(In next week’s blog I will write about the earthquake and Hurricane Irene that surprised us in NYC this week.)

In last week’s blog, I wrote about going through a series of tests related to my health, how each week as I was called back to do another test, the tests seemed to grow more frightening, even life-threatening. I commented that the tests were causing me to wonder if something bad could happen to me. I also shared that my friend Adam had reminded me in a text message: ‘Remember, you are in the hands of an overwhelmingly loving God!’ and how I felt deep gratitude, joy, and relief as I thought about those words.

That day after the test I opened Thomas Merton’s book New Seeds of Contemplation and read these powerful words: ‘If you descend into the depths of your own spirit . . . and arrive somewhere near the center of what you are, you are confronted with the inescapable truth that, at the very roots of your existence, you are in constant and immediate and inescapable contact with the Infinite power of God.’ Sometimes frightening news, suffering, pain, and loss can cause us to descend into the depths of our souls. And if we are truly open to it, we may find the infinite power of God. It is awe-inspiring, encouraging, and profoundly moving. For if God is in you, with you, and for you, what can there be that is against you?

Several days later, the long awaited phone call came from my doctor with the good news: ‘Benign. Not malignant. All is well!’ Alleluia! Something has ended and I have another chance for a new beginning.

And as with all beginnings for any of us, they offer opportunities for new horizons. They are one more opening for surprises and new life. Perhaps we may want to invite God to be with us and to open our hearts to these fresh beginnings whenever they emerge.

Oh, God of Beginnings. Thank you for being this overwhelmingly loving God and for offering us another chance to begin again. Help us to make our ordinary lives become extra-ordinarily alive through love and compassion. May we see life as sacred and a true gift to us. You are our awesome God. Thank you. Amen.

Joy Carol
www.joycarol.com