Recognizing God—or not

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“In the moment it can be hard to see where God is leading us,” says Richard Stearns, “but looking back we often see His fingerprints.”

Stearns captures what memoir is all about, especially what we at SM 101 are all about:

We look back over life—we inspect, reflect, seek to detect patterns, connect dots, follow breadcrumbs—and discover God had His hand on us all along. His fingerprints are all over everything. (Click on that link.)

But dear Frederick Buechner shocks us 

with this sobering truth:

God lets us choose 

whether to recognize Him and His fingerprints.

Buechner writes:

“There is no event so commonplace but that God is present within it, always hiddenly, always leaving you room to recognize him or not to recognize him. . . .”  (Frederick Buechner, from Now and Then and Listening to Your Life)

I urge you to set aside time to search for God’s fingerprints.

But I have to warn you: Be prepared.

Prepare to discover links, insights, and joys.

Prepare to be surprised and delighted.

Prepare to unravel life’s mysteries (or at least some of them).

Prepare to make better sense of your life.

Prepare to find a deeper faith in God.

Prepare to feel great about it!