Life is complicated. How to comprehend and explain it? Some appeal to karma. Some appeal to fate. Some claim coincidence. Others suggest a providential hand. Nonetheless, most people have some need for understanding. Life is puzzling in many ways, at least for me. Life is not neat and clean. Partial understanding can come in hindsight. But, there can never be complete understanding. M. Scott Peck authored a book entitled: “The Road Less Travelled”. The first line is short, simple, and yet profound. That first line is, “Life is difficult”. As I pondered life, I authored the following poem. I hope it hits a chord in you. I hope it stimulates a bit of pondering. Perhaps it can bring a bit of comfort. Best and blessings to you!
Seemingly Chaotic
Seemingly chaotic.
Yet, choreographed with precision.
The canine circles,
Arranging its laying down place.
Then, to rest in peace.
Perhaps my life is similar,
Though I do not readily perceive.
God prepares my laying down place,
A choreographed master plan.
My laying down, in peace?
Hardly, it seems.
He promises the yoke is easy,
The burden light.
Eternity, the final laying down place,
Awaits.
Now, the seeming chaos,
Amid the choreographed master plan.
Richard L. Brewer
11.12.10
Published by sparedbygrace@yahoo.com
I am Richard Brewer—a Christ-follower, psychologist, husband, father, grandfather (Papa) sometimes writer, and lifelong student of people.
For much of my professional life, I've had the privilege of sitting with people as they wrestle with some of life's most difficult questions—questions about faith, suffering, grief, relationships, identity, failure, hope, and what it means to live well.
Those conversations have changed the way I see people and the way I understand my own faith. They have taught me that life is rarely as simple as our explanations of it, that people are almost always more complicated than they appear, and that sometimes the wisest response to a difficult question is to empathize and to keep asking better questions.
I am a committed Christ-follower, but I am not interested in pretending that Christianity eliminates mystery or that faith means having an answer for everything. Faith invites us to pursue truth honestly, to think deeply, to acknowledge what we do not know, and ultimately to trust the God we do know.
Mediocre Meanderings is where I explore some of those questions.
I write about faith and psychology, grief and suffering, leadership and relationships, aging and ordinary life—and occasionally whatever else catches my attention along the way.
I do not write from the perspective of someone who has figured life out. I write as someone who has lived enough of it to know that I have not.
These are my thoughts, questions, observations, and occasional attempts at wisdom. Take what is useful. Challenge what is not. And, if you would like, meander along with me.
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