A few weeks ago as I sat on a beach by White Bear Lake, watching my dog swim and rereading a book of poetry, I came across the following piece by Mary Oliver.

Mornings at Blackwater

For years, every morning, I drank

from Blackwater Pond.

It was flavored with oak leaves and also, no doubt

the feet of ducks.

And always it assuaged me

from the dry bowl of the very far past.

What I want to say is

that the past is the past,

and the present is what your life is,

and you are capable

of choosing what that will be, 

darling citizen.

So come to the pond,

or the river of your imagination,

or the harbor of your longing,

and put your lips to the world.

And live

your life.

Each day of our lives consists of a series of choices that we make.  We decide when to wake up, what to have for breakfast, if we’re going to take a shower.  We decide who to call on the telephone, which emails to respond to, what errands to run.  We decide what plans to make, what dreams to pursue, who to visit.  Even when things happen to us that are beyond our control, we choose how we will respond. And the trick to an abundant life is to make many, if not most, of our choices consistent with “the pond or river of [our] imagination or the harbor of [our] longing.”  

Ah, there’s the rub… what exactly does our pond of imagination or our harbor of longing look like?  Jesus helps us with this by painting a picture of the Kingdom of God.  He does this mostly by telling strange stories called parables.  And the overarching theme of the parables is that God’s Kingdom occurs where love, peace, joy abide.  God’s Kingdom is that realm where justice and mercy and compassion are exhibited.  Jesus’ pond of imagination is that condition by which the poor are lifted up, the sick are made whole, the oppressed given encouragement, the enslaved free.  Jesus’s parables tell us of his pond of imagination, his harbor of longing.  It is a picture of a loving God that accepts all and loves all always.     

As we grow as Christians, we find that our pond of imagination begins to look remarkably like that of Jesus; our harbor of longing becomes the same as that of Jesus.  As Christians, we come together each week to be reminded of that pond, of that river, of that harbor of our longing.  We double down on our commitment to do what we may to bring about God’s Kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven.  

But it is only when we leave church that our real work begins.  Our real work lies in all the choices that we make each minute of each day to bring about God’s Kingdom.  If we make enough choices that are consistent with God’s Kingdom, not only our lives, but the lives of many others will move toward abundance and Jesus’ pond of imagination and harbor of longing becomes a reality.

So, when you wake up tomorrow morning, remember….

that the past is the past,

and the present is what your life is,

and you are capable

of choosing what that will be.

~Father Art