Fr Robert Hendrickson

Dear Friends in Christ,

This past week our family has been at Disney. Now, before having kids I would not have been caught dead (or alive) at Disney! But our priorities change, don’t they, when we have someone else for whom to care? Disney is, surprisingly, a very autism-friendly company with a specially designed system of ride reservations and waiting lines for kids with autism. The kids love going and it’s become a pretty easy choice for us when going on a quick vacation.

Even though they make it easier for some kids—it’s not like Disney is ever easy. There are paths everywhere. Paths to get lost on. Paths to get turned around on. Paths to get thirsty, overheated, or oversold on. One spends an enormous amount of time on paths and in lines waiting for things to happen. You walk a path to wait to ride, you walk a path to wait to eat.

Of course, it’s not much different than life. We walk one path among many. Our entire choice of place to walk may have been changed by caring or being cared for by someone else. We walk and wait for the big stuff to happen.

Along the way we wander with friends. We stop for a quick meal or a photo or just a breath. In those little moments the actual journey takes its shape.

In the pauses we find the substance.

And being able to appreciate those pauses depends on the attitude and the joy we bring to them. We can come to them wondering if another path would have been shadier or more fun or less annoying. Or we can come to them determined to bring some light with us.

There are many paths in life—God hasn’t shoved you down one. But God is walking with you along yours. He’s wandering and pausing and breathing and eating and more with you. This path you’re on may not be the one you imagined but it is the one you have—so walk it with the joyful hope that we never walk it alone.

Yours in Christ,

—Fr Robert