Remembered paths

Monday of the Second Week of Advent

Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions;
remember me according to your love
and for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.
Psalm 25:6

As I write in my journal, I recall a moment this time last year which leads me in turn to think of years before that. Any day can be an anniversary of sorts, the marker of time passing, an invitation to review life lived with its joys and regrets.

I am grateful that I grow and learn. Sometimes when I recall a past moment of failure or disappointment, I think with relief how much wiser I am now and feel thankful I wouldn’t misstep in that way again. And then I realize someday I will look back on this moment too, and think how naïve I was, how ungraceful my steps.

Yet in this space of recollection, I see more. I trace paths of healing and wholeness and integrity in the way I have already journeyed. I see the evidence of faithful companions who traveled past roads with me. In retrospect, I see even more clearly how God has worked wonders in my life. And I know that I too, with all my vulnerabilities, am invited to make straight a way in the wilderness for the coming of the Christ child.