What’s Love Got To Do With It?

Former college professor, John Kavanaugh, was searching for the proverbial answer to the meaning of life. He was grieving the loss of his dear wife who had been ravaged by cancer.  He had researched the “why” question in hundreds of books.  He faithfully went through in-depth counseling.  John spent an extraordinary amount of time in discussion with pastors and rabbis.  He even spent a couple of months living in a monastery.  He wasn’t just diligent in his quest to know “why”; he attacked it like a rabid dog.   

Eventually Kavanaugh went to work for three months at “the house of the dying” in Calcutta.  He was seeking a clear answer to how best spend the rest of his life.  As soon as he arrived, he met the person in charge, Mother Teresa.  She extended her rough, bony hand in greeting and asked him, “What can I do for you?”  He responded by asking her to pray for him. 

“What do you want me to pray for?” she asked.  He then voiced the burden he had borne for countless miles, over an unfathomable number of hours.  “Pray that I have clarity.” 

Mother Teresa responded firmly, “No, I will not do that.”  Surprised, he asked her why she said that.  She then replied, “The idea of clarity is the last thing you are clinging to, and you must let go of it.”  When Kavanaugh commented that she always seemed to have the clarity he longed for, she laughed and said, “I have never had clarity.  What I have always had is trust.  So, I will pray that you will seek the adventure of trusting in God.” 

Brennan Manning writes:  “Craving clarity, we attempt to eliminate the risk of trusting God.  Fear of the unknown path stretching ahead of us destroys childlike trust in the Father’s active goodness and unrestricted love.  We often presume that trust will dispel the confusion, illuminate the darkness, and vanquish the uncertainty.  However, our trust does not bring final clarity to our time on this earth.  It does not still the chaos.  It doesn’t dull the pain. It doesn’t even provide a crutch to lean on.  When all else is unclear, trust is what allows our hearts to say as Jesus did on the cross, ‘Into your hands I commit my spirit.’”  (Luke 23:46)

The poet expresses this thought in Psalm 119:105 when he says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet, a light to my path.”  The problem for human beings is that a lamp shines just enough to see one step ahead and no more.  Our human nature is generally not satisfied with that.  We want the answers to every question in life lit up in front of us with neon signs.  We desire to have our purpose lined up and illuminated like the runway of a major airport.    

If life is a grand adventure, then danger is inherent to the journey.  However, God has promised to guide us through the wild, uncharted territory of life, if we let Him.  Sometimes that journey can be confusing.  It can be very difficult.  It can be very, very, painful.  But when we let go of our need for clarity and turn over our trust completely to Him, God will take us down a path that leads to one of His most unique gifts – the gift of contentment. 

My prayer this week is that we will find our way down that pathway. 

-Mike Howard