A Facebook goes like this. Someone asks another person where they will be in five years. The person responds that they can't answer as they are not even sure where they will be on Friday let alone 5 years from now. Truer words were never spoken.
I am a planner. I like to be organized. I don't like leaving things up to chance. Although I can fly by the seat of my pants, I like the feeling of being well prepared. My confidence, my sense of authority all come from the fact that I am prepared. I can speak in front of others because I know what I am going to be saying. I don't need to have it written down word for word, because already in my head, I have gone over my "text" several times. It just makes things easier, when I am ready.
However, even though I like to be prepared, I know that life does throw us some curves. There will always be detours along the way. Nothing goes completely as planned. Getting there is always half the fun. There are countless platitudes out there that tell us things don't always go the way we want to.
At one congregation I ministered at, a woman, who had a severe problem with alcohol, would often shout out questions, make statements, and voiced comments as I gave my sermons. It could be quite unnerving as often times her comments had nothing to do with the sermon. For instance, one day I was be preaching on the Prodigal Son and she yelled out, "My daughter had a baby last night." There was a pause and then she yelled, "It was an ugly little thing." I learned not to get rattled because of these detours. Being prepared really helped.
Some people plan things way too far in advance. They know where they will be on June 18th, 2024 at 4:30pm. They know exactly what they will be doing. If those people who have such foresight are right, more power to them. I like to think I might have an idea of what I might be doing at that time. I will probably be at the church here or at home. At this point though, my calendar is free. The date is so far away. Maybe closer to that datte, I might have an appointment. But at this point, I have no idea exactly what I will be doing. And that is fine.
Being prepared is good. It means we can deal with surprises along the way. Being too prepared, too early, seems to me to be a waste of time. Too many things can upset our careful road map that we have laid out for ourselves. Blessings.
