Hello friends.
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood monkey and dogs.
Welcome back to our series of short reflections.
Stay here.
Today I want to talk about.
.
.
What you do when you don't know what comes next.
Because these times happen all the time,
Don't they?
And being human,
We want the plan or the certainty.
We want to know that the decision that we've made is the right one.
That the road ahead's going to work out,
That we're going to be okay.
But sometimes we just don't know.
And scripture.
Has a beautiful image.
For these moments.
And I love this one from Psalm 119.
A very well-known verse that says,
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
I love that lamp.
To my feet.
And the reason why is because a lamp is not a floodlight.
A lamp isn't going to show you the whole road.
All it does is shows you enough to take the next step.
And.
.
.
My take is that's really all that we're promised.
No map,
No five-year plan,
No certainty about where everything's going.
Just enough light for where we're standing now.
As humans,
We spend an enormous amount of energy.
Trying to illuminate the future.
What will happen?
What should I choose?
Where is it going?
What if I get it wrong?
And fair enough,
I think underneath all those questions is that desire to feel safe,
To know that everything is going to turn out the way we hoped.
But let's be equally as honest and remind ourselves that life doesn't usually give us that kind of certainty.
Because there's so many other things in the mix.
And so,
Maybe what faith is.
.
.
Isn't certainty about what comes next.
But learning to walk with the light we have so that the certainty we can have.
Is about the next little step that we could take.
So if you don't know what comes next.
.
.
Well,
You don't necessarily have to know,
Maybe you only need to know what the next faithful step is.
The next honest conversation,
The next act of kindness,
The next thing that needs doing,
The next moment.
In which you choose love instead of fear.
Because when we think about it like that,
The light doesn't have to reach the end of the road.
You don't need to see the ultimate destination.
All you need is enough to reach your feet.
So I'll just invite you to take a breath in.
And out.
And think about whatever lies ahead for you at the moment.
Is there something that you're uncertain about?
Something you're waiting for?
Something you have to decide or can't control.
Just bring that into the light that you do have.
And in the next couple of minutes,
We're just going to sit with this question.
What is the next step?
Not the whole journey,
Just the next step.
You Your word is a lamp to my feet.
Not a floodlight for the future,
A lamp.
Now,
Enough for this step.
So if you don't know what comes next,
Let that be okay.
You don't have to see the whole way.
You only need enough light for where you are.
And that is enough.
So take the next step.
And then when you're ready.
You can take another.
And may grace,
Peace and love be with you every step today and always.
Amen.
Grace and peace,
Friends.
Bye for now.
