Monday, November 15, 2010

He Knows What He's Doing. . .

I just recently came across this marvelous quote from John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-90) (newly beatified, I might add). It captures wonderfully the sense of being faithful to God, and steadfast in faith, even though the path ahead can be maddeningly unclear. And so I share it with you. . . ------------------------- "God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. . . Therefore I will trust Him, whatever I am. . . He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me – still, He knows what He is about."

7 comments:

  1. I've often wondered what my 'purpose' is.......that is a great quotation.

    You'll be proud to hear that I'm reading a Tim Keller book right now for a small group I'm involved with. Gotta put the thinking cap on for this one.

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  2. I've always loved that idea, despite occasionally thinking "Dangit, quit keeping the purpose secret!", and struggling with the trust part.

    Thanks for sharing this today

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  3. I certainly won't argue with that. I've expressed much the same, though not in such pretty language. Mine is more like "Damned if I know why God is piling this crap on top of me, but I know it will work out in the end."

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  4. Skip - Gosh, thanks for the bacon. I'm honored.

    Cocotte - I always knew you had it in you. . . ;)

    And I dunno, if the answer to the question, "What is my purpose?" is "You may never know in this life", is that comforting, or not?

    Sailor - Yeah, I've been known to pray myself, "Would you mind telling me what you're up to?" Sometimes He does, sometimes He doesn't. . .

    Suldog - Hmmmmm. . . that's a different twist. But I suppose, at least from one angle, Newman here is not so very far from, "It all works out", is he?

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  5. bloom where you're planted. was a hard lesson for me for a long time.

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  6. Lime - Another interesting take. And a hard lesson indeed. It's always so tempting to look for greener grass, ain't it?

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