Doubts

It is far too easy to live with doubts.  One is never sure if something is going to happen.  Will the subway who up in the next ten minutes?  Will the taxi driver actually know how to get from point A to point B?  Are we ever going to get our meal?  The answer to the questions in the past two days is maybe, yes, and not for the foreseeable future! 
 
The subway will come, eventually.  The question that always haunts is a simple one; will I get to my destination by the time I need to be there?  It is hard to predict the answer.  In stark contrast to London, New York cab drivers often had no idea how to get to destinations within the five boroughs.  When they do, one is surprised, happy, and puzzled.  Even owners of a business rarely guarantee service.  Even when one’s business depends on it, somehow the idea seems to be problematic. 
 
The impact of life’s uncertainty is that I find myself not willing to depend on anything or anyone.  It is frustrating!  It is, at time depressing.  It also changes the way we look at the world around us.
 
I would like to suggest that we, starting with myself, could and can look through and beyond life’s failures and problems.  I do not need to let the failure of others dictate how I look at the present.  I do not need to let the doubt of others shape my views of the future.  I do not need to place uncertainty on those that have not earned the mantle.
 
I am not the first to wonder.  When God responds, “Listen, Jacob. Listen, Israel—I'm the One who named you!  I'm the One.  I got things started and, yes, I'll wrap them up.”  (Isaiah 48.12)  God is dealing with someone’s, probably my, fear, uncertainty, and doubt. 
 
Today you and I can step out with confidence.  Confident compassion is the best approach to life.  Confident love is the best answer, not hate.  Confident community is at the heart of real living.