A = B = C

Sometimes I just can’t take it; sitting through a presentation today was one of those moments.  I thought the presenter was articulate, humorous, and full of insights.  It was the pace that killed me!  How simple could the subject be?  I cannot imagine ideas more basic, constructive, and systematic than what I had the good fortune to hear.  The problem came in that I could anticipate the words several minutes before he got to them.  I knew what was coming.  I understood the point.  I idly tried to keep myself busy while waiting for the next one to slowly come into focus.  After forty-five minutes I gave up and responded to a phantom phone call.
 
Life unfolds like this far more than I am willing to admit.  It is almost too easy to anticipate what is coming tomorrow.  On one level each knows he or she has no clue, but this is no way dampens the willingness to confidently speculate.  We anticipate the weather.  We fret in advance, knowing how crowded the trains will be on our arrival.  We even know what our next meal will taste like.  It is as if we already have everything figured out; scripted in our minds and hearts.
 
Yet as logical and at times boring life can be at times there is much waiting for our open minds and ignorant discovery.  Even today, in the midst of a predictable pattern, there were extraordinary moments of compassion, empathy, and grace.  No one of the moments was anticipated.  There was no logical reason for their presence.  And yet they were there, ready to be received and enjoyed.
 
You and I can assume we know what is coming.  Alternatively we can start each day on a quest to see, experience, and create compassion, acceptance, and mercy.  We have this power.  “Make sure you get this right: Receiving someone I [the Spirit] send is the same as receiving me [the Spirit], just as receiving me [the Spirit] is the same as receiving the One [Divinity] who sent me.”  (John 13.20)