This Side of Bridge

Recently I heard Richard Rohr share about an experience from his life which spoke to me. He shared that he lives about three tenths of a mile from a traffic light at Bridge Street. He invariably is caught at that light on his way to the post office on the other side of Bridge Street. The wait for the light to change is “interminable”- a full three minutes. It is hard for him to wait that out as he wants to get to his important business at the post office. One day he sensed God telling him to enjoy that time of waiting. God said, “If you cannot he happy on this side of Bridge what makes you think you will be happy on the other side of Bridge?”

I thought of how I often think that when things change in some situation in my life that then I will be happy; such as If my allergies go away, if people do what I want, if I get more money in savings, etc., then I’ll be happy. I sense God saying to me, “What makes you think you’ll be happy then when you aren’t happy where you are now?

Last week, I spoke of resisting the temptation to go back to an earlier time, but I may have left the impression that we should rush forward. Actually we need to live fully in this present moment- to do that is the best way forward. Can we find joy in the present time with all of its challenges?



If we cannot find joy in the pandemic, what makes us think that we will find joy on the other side of the pandemic?



~ David