One of my favorite scriptures is Paul’s admonition in Philippians, which reads: “for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” If you were to ask me ten years ago, maybe even five years ago, where I thought I’d be today, I wouldn’t have guessed I’d be where I am. I think many of us can say that life throws us much that we didn’t expect, or even want. The test of this life is not what we receive, but, as our dear friend Tolkien once wrote, “what to do with the time that is given to us.” Our lives will be filled with many perils, but if we go cheerfully along our way with an eye of faith that all will be well in the end, it will not matter whether we make it to the next lily pad or fall victim to the sometimes bitter realities of mortality.
