3.22.2010

The Rambler?


I proclaim to the world through this blog that I am "The Rambler". Along with this blog title I wanted a clever email name that would stand the test of time and perhaps epitomize the life I'd like to be living for awhile. So I messed around with different combinations of "ramblingman" "therambler" "ramble-on" but it turns out that between all of the Led Zeppelin and Allman Bros fans out there that name had been snatched up already. I settled for "ramblewithaplan" which sounded a bit long at first, but then grew on me quickly because I liked the different messages it implies. It may be a bit of a contradiction to ramble and have a plan at the same time. It may also be a contradiction to ramble in speech yet have a pointed reason for opening your mouth in the first place. So how does rambling with a plan make any sense at all? I guess it makes perfect sense to me, and I'll try to make it make sense to you too, if you give a rats backside.
I think I've been learning lately that no one will ever have anything, in relation to the future of their lives, completely figured out. You can't plan for what's ahead because, let's be honest, you can't confidently say that you know what's ahead. I guess you can brace yourself for a storm, but you can't stop it. I've been learning that even the most "together" people I know don't have much of a clue. They think they do sometimes, but then they act shocked, hurt, and disrespected when life doesn't agree to their terms of engagement. I've been figuring out lately that the best attitude you can have in the face of this unpredictable life we live is to take on the resilience and curiosity of a rambler.
A rambler isn't disappointed if there's a roadblock in his path because this might mean there's a better detour in store, or a sight to behold, or that this momentary stall makes way for serendipitous encounters at present. A rambler doesn't have unrealistic expectations that the world will bend at his whim, a rambler will let the rain and wind shape him into something beautiful, maybe even into a monumentally grand canyon.
I've also been learning that God is not a creator of chaos. God has created order, symmetry and beauty out of a pattern that humanity has yet to completely grasp with our finite knowledge. That's where the plan comes into all of this rambling. Life is confusing sometimes, people are difficult, and sometimes it rains on your birthday. Yet even when your own life may be chaotic God still maintains order.
I will ramble through this life because I can't claim to have much of anything figured out, and if you're honest with yourself neither can you. I'll have a plan in my journeying not because I know what lies around the bend, but because I put my faith in a God that is responsible for bringing order to chaos, and makes beauty out of nonsense and rubbish. My only plan is that I trust that He's got a plan. So as I journey across the United States this spring, and as I open my mouth to ramble words I trust that God knows how to see a beautiful pattern amidst the chaos of my world. I pray that He'll bring what's worth preserving to the surface so that the longer I ramble on the more living will become a series of divine appointments and less of my curious wanderings. My world could be replaced with His world. Chaos for Order, and Beauty for Ashes.

2 comments:

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  2. Amen. "We need to let our minds be renewed and uncluttered to be free to dream again (in this way)." Not that you'll stop, but keep rambling.

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