Preparation

Today during lunch I left the hotel and started walking down King Street. It's a street which runs from the Masonic Monument to the waterfront. It is tree-lined, with wide brick sidewalks, shops, many banks and several restaurants. I had traveled down King Street the day before during lunch, turned around and on the way back, met someone from the conference I'm attending. We had lunch at a small French Restaurant -- quiche au crabbe (crab?). Yummy.

Anyway, she told me that the waterfront was a nice place to visit and that it was just a couple of blocks beyond the main street that we could see crossing King Street.

OK, then. Today I set off at lunch to walk to the waterfront. Ann (the lady I had lunch with) was wrong. It was not a couple of blocks beyond where I walked the day before. It felt like miles and miles. Altogether, I think it is about 17 blocks from the hotel. The farther I walked, the more determined I was to get to my destination, however, so I kept on walking.

Remember, I am in business clothes, including business shoes. My feet, even as I type this, are very unhappy with me.

I did make it to the waterfront (see the picture above as proof) and was lucky enough to find the free shuttle which travels up and down King Street (should have taken it TO the waterfront, too). Except for the sore feet, it was worth the walk. It's a beautiful street, and I would love to have the time to explore the shops.

I could have prepared better. I could have taken the time to put on comfortable shoes, to look up the distance from the hotel, or to have found the shuttle on the way down.

One of the lectionary readings for this week is Matthew 25:1-13. It is the parable of the 10 bridesmaids, some of whom take oil with them for the long night ahead, and some of whom don't. They all could have been prepared; only half of them were.

Even though there are ways in which I feel unprepared for my new job, there are also ways, as I look back, that I am amazed by how God has prepared me (in some ways -- not in all ways!). For example, about a year ago or more, I decided that I needed to be able to stand up in front of a crowd, and to pray without preparation (see this post). That was a challenge for me. I decided that if God was calling me to do certain things in ministry -- like being lay leader -- then if I let him, he would equip me for this, too. So I let go of the worry, and just did it. Now I don't worry about it any more; I just pray. And it's joy.

Little did I know how much I would need this skill -- beyond being lay leader. God has prepared me, in this way, for this task. It just took trust.

Easy to say. Not so easy to believe. Even harder to act upon.