(Excerpt from Ch. "My View from the Summit" from Leona's book-in-progress)
My life is like a book with chapters.
I've written many chapters already. As I look back from my summit, I
see myself as a different person in each of those chapters. In a
sense I was; as I matured, I assumed different roles in the various
chapters (seasons) of my life. At the same time, my core identity is
secure; I am still me.
We’re always told not to read the
final chapter of a book to see how it turned out, but to wait and be
surprised. The Mother of Jesus was unique, however, because God gave
her a prophetic peek through old Simeon at the Presentation of baby
Jesus in the temple. He revealed one of the later chapters of her
life that would pierce her heart. I'm not privy to such a revelation;
perhaps it is best that I'm spared that glimpse. Either I would be
too eager to reach the happy ending of my life story, or drag my feet
if I knew in advance about some trials that are to come.
I'm a bookworm; it seems that I
“inhale” books. I love to read all kinds of books, especially
biographies and dramatic New York Times bestsellers, if they are
clean. If I have any addiction, it is that I overeat when I
read a book—once started, I swallow it whole, gobble it up almost
at one sitting. Let the world go by; nothing else gets done while I
read. And I try to have another good book waiting in the wings to
start reading. I want to start on another pleasure cruise.
By contrast, my life, a biography, is
only a single volume. It will not have a sequel nor will it be a
series. God gives me one chance at life. Carrying through the book
analogy, I start with what a publisher calls the Front Matter,
the background stuff that launches me: the Acknowledgments,
Foreword, Introduction, maybe a Preface. God has
already predetermined the setting, chosen my DNA, and the
circumstances where the drama will take place. He ordained the plot
and the characters who will interact with me during my earthly life.
It’s going to be a real page-turner,
for sure, but it can't be written or read in a hurry. I'm subject to
space and time in this mortal life. Each chapter is separate,
chronologically progressive, and must be lived fully before the next
chapter unfolds. No single chapter is the whole book; the plot keeps
developing, so I shouldn't get bent out of shape over how things are
portrayed in a particular chapter, like the one I'm living right now.
God is at work processing the whole exciting adventure story of my
life; I am a work-in-progress. I must just hang in there; everything
will pass. Whatever I worry about, which I don’t think I can
possibly live through, I might not even remember when I'm living in
the next chapter.
I can probably anticipate a generous
basketful of serendipity times and events and adventures that will
contribute to the fulfilling of my dreams. And a ton of ordinary days
and events. The trivial non-events and humdrum routines are said to
be the building blocks to develop my holiness. Mary surely must have
had many joyful but ordinary, homespun times with Joseph and her son
Jesus as He was growing up; not everything they said and did would
have been earth-shaking and serious and worthy of being quoted even
around Nazareth.
Since life is made up of so many
commonplace daily doings, I shall enjoy each chapter in the now and
treasure the beloved characters who are living it with me. In my
biography some characters will come and others will go. I shall keep
offering up all things joyful and painful to God and accept His big
plot for my life story. I want to live fully in the present chapter
until God turns the page to the next chapter.
There are times in my life when I
might think I have surely reached the last chapter, that God must be
getting ready to close my book. None of us can be sure about God's
timing. As I approached my eightieth year, I thought I had written
the final chapter in my literally about-to-be-published
autobiography. What more could God possibly have left for me to
experience in life? Little did I know that not one but several more
incredible chapters (and another book or two or more that I would
write) were about to unfold. Little did I know that I was on the
verge of what I consider the greatest faith paradigm shift of my
life—I joyfully became a Catholic Christian after a lifetime as a
Protestant evangelical missionary, teacher, writer, and broadcaster.
I'm always eager for God’s
breathtaking, fantastic surprises in my next chapter. As a Christian,
no matter how many chapters I will live through, or how many
different roles I will play, I can look forward to a grand Epilogue,
a fitting climax, even after God writes the last chapter in my
earthly life story—it will be Eternity in the Presence of the
Blessed Trinity!
As they say, “The best is yet to come!” So I
celebrate each chapter as a loving gift from God!
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