Lenten Meditation #2

It's Friday again, so that means it's another day to reflect on the week and think about all the things I have experienced, and where on my lenten journey it has taken me.

I find I am a mixed bag of feelings.  On the one hand, I am excited.  I have some traveling coming up, and I am very excited to get to it.  I want to go, I want to get moving and be about discovery and all those other good things that travel brings.  I want to see a new sky and a new set of stars and feel a new sensation on my skin.

On the other hand, the day-to-day stuff is easy to get caught up in, and keeps me from enjoying things as best I can, when I get wrapped up in the business of life.  This schedule, that thing, the next item on the list of to-dos gets tedious and it saps my concentration a bit.  It makes it hard to focus, because I'm trying to keep all the plates spinning, it feels like.  I know I bring this upon myself, and I know I will get through it, but that does not make it easier.  In fact, it often makes it much more difficult. 

And then, there's a secret option C: the pain I feel for those most recent tragedies in New Zealand.  It brings to light that terror is terror, no matter where it lives or where it attacks.  It is evil, to rule by fear, or to attempt to, and I am stuck in that same limbo as so many others, asking, "How could this have been prevented?"

That brings me to this realization:  I couldn't have prevented it.  I can only do so much.  I am only one man, and I am rather ordinary at that.  It is up to me to know, to recognize, and to follow my gifts and my limitations.  We focus much on how "we can do anything" and how we should always encourage others.  This are great sentiments, but they are not necessarily truthful.  We should encourage others to strive to be the best they can be....not to be the best.  We should encourage others to take on tasks they can handle - not to take on tasks that are beyond their ken.  Is this a way to avoid taking action?  Some might see it that way, and they are certainly welcome to, but there is a limit beyond which I cannot reach, and to reach beyond that limit is folly.  That doesn't mean I should not strive to expand my reach - only that I should not over-extend myself in doing so.  It means admitting that some things are beyond my reach, yet.  And that is OK.

Thanks for reading,

Me