Moment

It takes a lifetime of preparation to be ready for the MOMENT that God asks to jump on the boat. 

Christ and Saint Peter (Icon)

I think in life there are many pivotal moments, which at the time we think nothing of, and then later, we consider really carefully, and the impact of those moments changes everything for us.

When I was a very very little girl, my parents were getting my sisters out of the car.  I was standing near the car next to some of my younger sisters, and I noticed one of them starting to walk onto the road.  I grabbed her quickly – in a moment – and without thinking about it, and pulled her to safety.

My mother remembers that day because she is convinced that without my intervention in that moment, while she was distracted with one of the other children, that sister might have had a serious accident or even died.

When I think back to that moment, I barely remember it.  I did something that I felt was instinctive in the moment and acted according to my feeling at that time.  And yet, the ramifications of that moment are far-reaching – that sister is now married with children of her own, which may never have happened if it were not for that moment…

And I have been thinking about that.  Because life is littered with moments, and all we are asked to do is be prepared for them…

Saint Simon Peter was not expecting to meet God that day.  He had been fishing unsuccessfully all night – it was a BAD day at work, so to speak.  I am fairly sure that he wanted to go home, have a nice cooling rinse off, have something to eat and have a long rest.  And yet – there in a moment, God jumped into his boat…

“While the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret. And he saw two boats by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.” (Luke 5:1-11).And I have been reflecting on that today.  If Saint Simon Peter were not prepared for God then perhaps he would not have made space on his boat?  If he was not a Godly man, who prayed and believed in the infinite power of God, perhaps he would not have known how to welcome the message of God when it arrived?  Perhaps every experience in his life up to that point was there to prepare Him to allow Christ onto his boat that day?  After all, is Saint Simon Peter not the ROCK upon which Christ’s Church was built?

And I have been thinking about that today as I have been thinking about God – for it takes a lifetime of preparation to be ready for the MOMENT that God asks to jump on the boat.  And today, I have to wonder, if I am prepared?

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.