This One Trip

"The Lord needs it. He will send it back again soon." Mark 11:3

A month or so ago, a plane crashed landed into the Hudson but everyone on board survived. This past week, a plane crashed into a home outside Buffalo and everyone on board and one person on the ground perished. I heard a comment from a politician who indicated that he believed that God was not with the people on the second flight, or not as much so. I actually believe that God was with both groups of people. God in the midst of our survivals and God in the midst of our horrors. And there is pain and anguish enough in this world. None of those people nor their families) began their day as if it were their last. It isn't ours to control and know. But we can know that God is with us in all circumstances, even the most curious, complicated and difficult of circumstances.

Jesus arranged for a donkey and made an historic trip into Jerusalem. The story is often described as the last time Jesus goes to Jerusalem, or the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The people with Jesus did not know this. They heard what he said but rarely understood it. They followed him and occasionally did as he instructed, but they didn't put the pieces together. They couldn't, they were human, as you and I are human. They had to stand by and watch the events unfold, offering their help when possible. But they could not have imagined what God had in mind and they didn't know God's timing. They could only tell the story afterward, with all the miracles, insights, pain and spectacular moments as best they could remember them.

Today, I want to ask God to help me live this story, not worried about firsts and lasts, but with full awareness of God's presence in the midst of everything today. I want to remember that I don't control the story but that I am embedded in the loving arms of God who will hold me through it all. I want to take today as it is offered, with its full beauty and challenges, accepting it as a gift from God. I pray that we can all live this day fully. Not anticipating or worrying about tomorrow, the end of the story, the end of the money, the impending crash, but can live just today with God. Tomorrow will have its own challenges and God will be in the midst of those too.