Creating a paradise

Our task is to do what God did at the beginning---to create a paradise, a garden, for ourselves and for others.  And we do it as Mary did, not by power, nor by strength, but by allowing the Spirit of God to flow through our hearts, minds, and bodies unrestrained. 

We ourselves cannot "see" to choose the good and the true; we must allow the Spirit in us to choose what He wills to do---and, of course, that thing is always more and greater than we can imagine for ourselves.  Let us give God freedom to move about in the garden of our lives; He may surprise us, after all.

I remember many years ago asking God to make me a good teacher.  In the midst of my prayer, I "heard" the words, "Why don't you ask Me what my plans are for you?"   Now that is a scary question to ask God; maybe we really don't want to hear His answer.  It is certainly safer and more "do-able" to ask to be a good teacher than to let the infinite God choose one's path.

I hesitated for a moment and then went ahead and asked.  What I heard overwhelmed me: I am going to make you the valiant woman.  I didn't know whether to laugh at the absurdity of the answer or to cry at its impossibility.  One thing I knew was that this was not a vision I could accomplish in my own strength, any more than Mary could have become the mother of Jesus by herself.  Like Mary, I turned over these words in my heart, waiting to see how they might be accomplished.  Every now and then I see a mere glimpse; my teaching days are long over, but the "other" vision has many more days of fulfillment.

Nothing is impossible for God, so I'm not laughing at his great joke any more, but one can only hope that there is still room for progress after death!