Journey of the Heart / Jennifer Burger

In the unsettling moments of fog in our lives, don’t worry; God finds us

As I was waking and getting ready for work one morning in October, the refrain of a hymn kept popping into my head: “Eye has not seen, Ear has not heard, what God has ready for those who love him …”

I couldn’t recall having recently sung or heard this during Mass or anywhere else, so I took it as an invitation from God to pay attention to see and hear what he had ready for me that day!

It was a crisp morning, and the display of fall colors certainly caught my attention. But what I was most drawn to on my way to work was the fog resting just above the ground in several open fields that I had passed.

There is something mysterious yet beautiful about a morning fog—a layer of misty cloud touching close to the ground, an in-between place between warm earth and cold air.

The convergence of two opposite conditions gives way to the fog that holds its own nature that is suspended until the day overcomes the night and is lifted. It has a dream-like quality that lingers, as if holding the remembrance of the day past and the possibilities of the new day as it whispers “not yet …”

When we find ourselves in our own fog, the feeling is not quite so dreamy. These are the times in our lives when there is a similar convergence—change and transitions such as life-death or endings-beginnings—and we become overwhelmed by the weight of emotions or circumstances, or we are in the thick of too much, and we find it difficult to see things clearly, feeling disorientated or lost.

This kind of fog may hold for us sadness, confusion, lethargy, indecision—to name just a few—as we grasp and struggle to search for clarity or close our eyes until it has passed.

While we may not enjoy being in this kind of fog, can we see the mystery and beauty in it?

The interesting thing about morning fog (or any fog) is that it reveals something that is always there: water vapor that condenses and becomes water droplets that hang in air. Is not God present in our lives the same way?

With eyes to see and ears to hear, God reveals himself to us always, but especially in times of such cloudiness.

The fog becomes a sacred space for us where God’s love and mercy bend down and meet us in our places of convergence, creating a blanket of comfort and security where we can be held, suspended in his grace.

In this stillness of his presence, we are free to remember, to collect, and the veil starts to open as we are given a glimpse of God’s wisdom of revelation and can find “readiness” in our “not yet.”

As the sun warms the air and the fog lifts, a balance is restored. And so too with God. He remains in our heart as we begin a new day.

The second half of the refrain of this beautiful hymn of comfort is: “Spirit of Love, come give us the mind of Jesus, teach us the wisdom of God.”

This is what God has ready for each of us—and has already given us—a Savior.

The fogs in our lives will certainly return as our worlds collide. Whether circumstances lead us there, or we somehow find ourselves there, God is also there, pouring out his wisdom, love and mercy through the one who shows us the way.

May we avail ourselves to the Spirit and find great comfort in this!
 

(Jennifer Burger is program manager at Our Lady of Fatima Retreat House in Indianapolis and a member of St. Simon the Apostle Parish in Indianapolis. She is also a spiritual director.) †