Wandering To Our Center

I think I am where God wants me to be, a Paulist priest, living my summers in a Trappist Monastery. How I got here was Grace.  Some would call it happenstance.  The point is that we can wander around in one career, work, relationship, or other for awhile, all the time moving to where God wants us, often through what seems like failure, mishap, or plain bad luck.  God is always at work.  In my case, I got hired by a Chicago corporation.  So I moved to Chicago.  The Paulists had a church around the corner from my office.  I knew nothing about the Paulist Fathers.  I was not looking for them.  They were just in the neighborhood.  I liked their short, to the point sermons.  Seemed like nice guys. Then I moved to another corporation in San Francisco.  The Paulists had a church near my office.  Thinking about being a priest, I eventually stopped in to talk to them.  I joined up.  As a priest, the Paulists asked me to go to work in our Boulder, Colorado parish.  There, I heard about a Catholic monk who would be talking with a Buddhist Roshi.  I decided to attend.  The monk was Thomas Keating, who was living at the Snowmass Trappist monastery.  I met Thomas, and that is how I eventually ended up here.  I was simply going to the next thing.  I only thought I was in control.  God was at work the whole time.  So don't worry if you think you are a bit lost.  God may very well have your back.