Dec 10 2019 Psalm 37:23-24 (and Commemoration of Thomas Merton)

Our steps are made firm by the Lord, when he delights in our way

Thomas Merton was a Trappist monk, and prolific writer. He was deeply committed to social justice, and spoke out against war. He was a mystic, who thought and wrote deeply about many things spiritual. Like the Gospel of John, I almost understand what Merton writes. In his writing, I catch glimpses of the Holy. Maybe in 2020, I’ll pick up one of his well known writings, such as “Contemplation in a World of Action”, or “Seven Storey Mountain” [sic].  I can imagine there are gems contained in his writing, if I have the dedication to read them.

This morning’s devotional reflection focuses on how planning is important, and also somewhat futile. Plans are made to work in one area, only to have our best-laid plans utterly destroyed, because we are called to another area. Planning to work in evangelism only to arrive days after a natural disaster. Or plans to work rebuilding something, only to discover the supplies are not available as planned.

As someone who’s been in professional jobs with “planner” in the title, I am a big fan of plans and planning. One of the best bits of professional advice I received was at a time when I was an assistant city manager. My job was to help other decision makers get to the place where they could make their decision, in an informed yet efficient way. The presenter at the conference was noting that sometimes we plan and presume the plans are the ends, rather than the means to an end. His point was that yes, make plans. Develop forecasts. Analyze possibilities – all for the purpose of forward motion. Once that next step is taken, the plan was successful, and should be refined given the new reality, and to promote the next baby step. At the end of a project, it is highly unlikely that the original plan remains intact and fully implemented as conceived.

This advice, although not faith-based, was in line with the God-inspired reflection this morning. The steps of the faithful are ordered by the Lord. The point of the writing and the reflection is that it is God’s ordering, not ours. We humans make plans because we need to have some image of tomorrow. And with those fallible plans, we are able to move forward, to take the next step. To get on the plane to work in one way on a mission trip. And yet, it’s God that orders our steps, not us. Again, as a professional planner, I’m not about to jettison my plans. But both by my profession and my faith, I’ve come to realize that the plan is a means to an end. Plans help us mortals take the next step. And plans help us imagine a tomorrow. Unlike God, who’s already at our tomorrow, we don’t have that foresight. Instead, we dream and conjure and plan. And with any luck, we leave enough room for God to intervene, once we make those plans. With any luck, we are constantly correcting and revising and renewing our plan to reflect God’s plan.

One of Merton’s quotes struck me this morning, as I was also reading the pre-mission trip devotional. Merton writes, "a superficial freedom to wander aimlessly here or there, to taste this or that, to make a choice of distractions is simply a sham. It claims to be a freedom of 'choice' when it has evaded the basic task of discovering who it is that chooses."   

This morning, I’m thinking about how our efforts at planning are both necessary and irrelevant, both the way to move forward and, if we’re not careful, the road block to moving forward on God’s plans. God can, and always will use our best-laid plans made in faith. And we need to make room for God’s plans to trump ours.