Another Find Among The Leaves11.08.11
Last week I ended up with two unexpected free days. We had planned to go as a family to Nagano to enjoy the fall colors and be together. We do live under the same roof and try to eat meals together most evenings here in Tokyo, but between work, school, sports, friends and the digital age in which we live, we don’t always connect as well as we would like. Our neat plan however required a last minute revision due to the final middle school volleyball tournament, so Tim and Sky spent some father/son time together in Nagano, and I stayed here with Sam and Lilla. Even in Tokyo fall has come, and leaves need to be raked on the street out front of my house every few days. (Frequently sweeping the stretch of road in front of one’s house is a time honored, unwritten rule in Japan, as is pulling the weeds that push up through cracks in the pavement.)
I did a little sweeping leaves and pulling weeds, but also found lots of time to leaf through leaves of another variety. Here’s a quote I’m relishing. (I trust you can look beyond the sexist language- be assured that Elizabeth O’Connor was way ahead of her time in recognizing our co-humanity in creation and in Christ.)
Whether a man arrives or does not arrive at his own destiny – the place that is particularly his – depends on whether or not he finds the Kingdom within and hears the call to wholeness – or holiness as another might say. The man who hears that call is chosen. He does not have to scramble for a place in the scheme of things. He knows that there is a place which is his and that he can live close to the One who will show it to him. Life becomes his vocation. (Journey Inward, Journey Outward, by Elizabeth O’Connor)
