Gilda Radner died of cancer in May of 1989. She, among other things, was a comedienne on Saturday Night Live in the late 70s. Her painful path to death produced these words:
"I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next."
The longer I live the more I embrace the truth and wisdom in her words. Don’t take that to mean I have no faith or confidence in God. It’s just the opposite. I really try to live by this rather profound bumper sticker statement:
I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.
For a long time I’ve been in a process, painful at times, of relinquishing control. I cannot control much of anything beyond my attitude, and I have a hard time with that. I can’t control any other person.
Most things in my life have been different from what I at one point imagined. I actually find peace and joy in that. We simply don’t know much about the future, beyond that fact that God is in it and promises his children blessings. These ancient words of Isaiah (chap. 64) are worth believing:
Since before time began
no one has ever imagined,
No ear heard, no eye seen, a God like you
who works for those who wait for him.
I don’t know what happens next, but God’s promised presence is enough for me.
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