For matins this morning, Lee read from Robert M. Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,* and followed with a reflection:

Now, I believe the message of that passage to be fairly straight-forward: stop and smell the roses.

Like many of you folks, I came to Holden with expectations of “figuring out my life” or “finding myself.” I didn’t know what I wanted to do with the rest of my life – I had no idea.... Eight months later, I still don’t. Nonetheless, I wanted to know what “God’s plan” was for me. As many of you already know, I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Indeed, prior to arriving at Holden I “had my eyes on the prize,” so to speak. (Granted I had no idea what that prize was or would be – but I was looking pretty hard.) I, like the climber in the passage, concerned myself far too greatly with what was to come next and with how great that next thing would hopefully be. However, once I arrived at that next destination, all I could imagine was the beauty that I would later find further on up the road. As a result, I envied those before me who had seemingly obtained this beauty just before I arrived, as I also envied those behind me who had seemingly found such beauty just as soon as I had departed. I wondered, “Where is the beauty which I had so patiently and earnestly sought? That I had so willingly devoted my time and efforts to finding? How could my eyes – so intensely alert and focused – have possibly missed it, just passed it by?

And then I stepped into this little mountain valley. My eyes were distracted. I was thrown headlong into a world I previously could only have imagined...except in my previous imaginings I was unable to see God. It was not until I lost focus on my own life and direction that I could see the beauty that this God had placed before me and all around. I finally stopped to smell the roses – and the refuse (or the compost of life, if you will) – and it all smelled good.

So what does this have to do with any of you? Well, I find that we as Christians always seem to be waiting for something. We await the coming of Christ. We even say so every Sunday: “Christ is died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.” We wait for the Kingdom of God...and yet we continue to wait despite our affirmations and prayers.

Now a question: Are we waiting because the Kingdom of God is on its way? Or is the Kingdom of God among us, and we are just so focused on all our waiting and what is to come that we can’t see it now?

I know this world is far from perfect, just the same as you do. But I find it hard to believe that the Kingdom of God is or will be the perfection which we imagine and for which we wait. Rather, I think the Kingdom will be – and pardon the cliché – “perfectly imperfect.” I believe the Kingdom will be a time and place in which we will all take the time to appreciate this creation the way the Good Lord made it -- in spite of the imperfections, which we as people so often superimpose upon it.

Our goal as Christ’s disciples isn’t external and distant. The Kingdom of God is within all of us and all of creation – we just have to get the “us” out of the way.

So, as we go about our lives and work today, let us stop and smell the roses – and know the Kingdom of God.

* Pages 189-190; Bantam New Age Edition, © 1974.