“Times of Upheaval”

by Dr. Susan Nettleton

Times of upheaval, whether personal or on an international scale, push jus to go beyond our usual resources.  Our understanding and expectations may be shattered.  Our daily routines are disrupted, leaving us unsettled outwardly as well as inwardly.  Life is no longer predictable or controlled.  Yet, it is when these structures fall apart that we are most free to change.  Times of crisis can bring transformation.  Most of us respond to upheaval, though, with an almost irresistible urge to put everything back in place the way it was before — even when we know it cannot be so.  This is the point at which we can turn to prayer.  Prayer connects us with the great Ordering activity of God.  Divine Order leads us beyond where we have been and beyond where we are, to Life’s unfolding Good.