In these difficult and worrying times, Doing good and pleasing God both seem like the only logical responses. Small, concrete steps that mean something in the moment will maybe focus our minds on what can go right in the face of so much going wrong.
I’m writing this on a dark and dreary morning, which seems appropriate given all that’s going on in the world right now. The news and social media are filled with scary events and so much uncertainty. I’m at a loss for what to write. My words seem so very inadequate.
At times like this, I turn to the words of others for comfort in the face of uncertainty. For the past several weeks, I’ve had the first lines of Thomas Merton’s famous prayer running through my head: “My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end.” I know that many people turn to Julian of Norwich’s “All shall be well” when fearful, and so do I, but lately Merton’s doubt speaks to me more authentically.
I guess it helps to know that someone who seems to have had such a direct route to the Divine and wrote volumes about God had no idea what he was doing, either. If Thomas Merton of all people didn’t have things figured out, then maybe that’s not what I should be aiming for.
He also doesn’t sit endlessly in that not-knowing and stew, like I sometimes do, paralyzed by the uncertainty. The prayer moves on, into action, into doing something that Merton feels will please God – even if he doesn’t know for certain that it will. He does it, though, and notes, “But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.”
I resonate with the fact that Merton doesn’t start from a place of being self-assured that he’s on the right path and doing the right things. He fully acknowledges he doesn’t know, but that doesn’t stop him from trying. But he first names what he is feeling so he can acknowledge it and then does something concrete about it, even if he has no clue whether that’s the right course. Regardless, he will endeavour to please God in what he does.
Anne Lamott recently wrote on social media that she, too, is at a complete loss for how to deal with the enormity of what’s going on right now. Like Merton, though, she shifts from despair to action: “If you don’t know what else to do…do love: take a big bag of food over to the local food pantry…Walk around the neighborhood and wave or hug everyone and pick up litter…Love and beauty are truth.”
Doing good and pleasing God both seem like the only logical responses to uncertainty and fear. Small, concrete steps that mean something in the moment will maybe focus our minds on what can go right in the face of so much going wrong.
It also gets us out of our heads (and phones) and into the world immediately around us, which is still a place of beauty and wonder. The rain yesterday will hopefully boost the June flowers and green up the grasses. People are out walking more lately now that summer is upon us, and the gloom of our dark winter is a mere memory. I like to think that stopping to admire all of God’s creation does, in fact, please God – as does treating everyone we encounter with the grace and kindness we’d like to see ripple out to the wider world.
Please God. Do good. Simple. Small. A way to move in this uncertain world and carve out, even just briefly, a little space for beauty and hope.
Kevin Aschenbrenneris a Victoria-based writer, poet and communications professional. He holds an M.A. in Culture and Spirituality from the Sophia Center at Holy Names University in Oakland, Calif. He blogs atwww.dearpopefrancis.ca.
You can read more articles on our multi-faith blog, Spiritually Speaking, athttps://www.timescolonist.com/blogs/spiritually-speaking
*This article was published in the print edition of the Times Colonist on Saturday June 28th 2025