Beckoning Changes

"A Time to Talk"

When a friend calls to me from the road

And slows his horse to a meaning walk,

I don't stand still and look around

On all the hills I haven't hoed,

And shout from where I am, "What is it?"

No, not as there is a time to talk.

I thrust my hoe in the mellow ground,

Blade-end up and five feet tall,

And plod: I go up to the stone wall

For a friendly visit.

– Robert Frost

It's been a long week filled with much activity– various labors on the different aspects of the grant proposal with which I'm involved, attending a number of campus events, receiving and meditating upon several letters from friends, a series of conversations that have been both challenging and rewarding, and trying to avail myself of opportunities for rest and prayer amidst it all.

A strong cold front passed through New England late Thursday night, ushering in the first taste of autumn after a warm summer and a spell of flooding tropical rains as the academic year opened a few weeks ago. Beyond the initial sense of refreshment and excitement that I feel with the arrival of cooler temperatures, crisper air, and the first hints of changing foliage, I notice God's invitation to the sort of friendly visit that Frost describes in this poem. After a week of writing and meetings related to the grant project, I feel the call to relate some of my story. After some sessions of intense listening, I feel as if God may be willing to listen to me. Reflecting on my growing participation in campus life, I sense an opening to deepen my participation in God's designs for my life.

Though the weather is growing cooler, I still feel the draw to come outside– both in a physical sense and a spiritual sense. Though my spirit is willing, my mind can be weak or resistant... and so I go slowly to the edge of the wall that I have built, and hope to more freely meet the one who patiently awaits me there.