Awareness

Sometimes stuff just happens.  I don’t know why.  I have no idea who is behind the action.  I didn’t see and cannot find the indicator that it was about to unfold.  It was, is, and will continue to be a total surprise.  I have no idea when something new is going to pop up in my life.
 
In some ways, I wish the continued surprises were new phenomena.  In my immediate neighborhoods, I find myself comfortable, feeling safe and secure.  Walk a few blocks in New York, drive a couple of miles in California, and I find myself reeling from the unpredictable actions of those around me.  It is as if the community’s DNA changes.  I know it hasn’t yet somehow something has changed.  The uncertainty, borderline fear, isn’t just a factor of where I am.  Changing corporate experiences, meeting friends of friends, and even taking on a new project come with the risk that I will be surprised! 
 
As I imagine turning an untouched block of wood, the answer to neighborhoods, strangers, and new experiences comes into focus.  There are certain consistencies in life that transcend the surface differences.  People are people; they share the many of the same fears, uncertainties, and doubts.  God is God, no matter how religions, cultures, and traditions try to describe their particular view.  Disciplines work in a wide range of circumstances, even when I do not find them fun. 
 
Perhaps my surprise simply reflects my willingness to see beyond my comfort zone.  If I look at the answers to the questions that follow; “Who got things rolling here, got this champion from the east on the move?  Who recruited him for this job, then rounded up and corralled the nations so he could run roughshod over kings?  He's off and running, pulverizing nations into dust, leaving only stubble and chaff in his wake.”  (Isaiah 41.2)  I find the answer then, and now, is God. 
 
Today is an opportunity to see and experience truth.  It is all around us.  God works, in your life and mine.  Surprise is not required.