Three paths curving through the forest. Each coming from a different direction and finally intersecting in the glen on the edge of the forest. Paths followed by people from all walks of Life; finally encountering one another in this glen, at this intersection.

 

The Latin word for the place where these three roads meet is trivia; the very same word which has given name to the kind of small talk that often occurs at such places. 

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So much of our days, it seems, can appear - on the surface - as trivial. Random acts, simple bits of information, isolated events - all loosely woven together by our own particular life. We walk our daily path through these wooded areas, just trying to get to the other side of the glen before nightfall - and we often times can't see the forest for the trees; in other words, we often times spend our day navigating our obstacles that we forget to glance at the purpose of Life as a whole.

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Random acts? Simple bits of information? Isolated events? Trivial? As months and flow past me, I am more amazed than not at how "beyond happenchance" Life truly is; there is intention and purpose and order in this existence we call Life. Is our daily living predetermined? As a flawed and erring human being, I pray it isn't. Is our daily journey nudged and encouraged along? Oh yes, I have no doubt. For those of you who are parents or sons/daughters, can you honestly say that you birthed your children and then remained completely hands-off? And can you truly say that you were birthed and then left to instruct, mentor and encourage yourself? The Grand Parent of all, I'm sure, has similar intentions of remaining involved in the lives of all His/Her children.

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Was that friendly face and kind word in your recent and rather dismal day just a random act? Was that saged advice and example from another - which altered your life - just a "simple bit of information" along the way? Was your need to assist that unknown person most in need on the sidewalk, side of the road, at work or in the grocery store just an isolated event on your part? Interestingly enough, if we speed through our day fast enough, these events and circumstances may all seem as just happenings along Life's path and crossroads, just trivial matters to be dismissed lightly.

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My friend, we live in uncertain and exciting and inspired times - all at the same time. It was a number of years ago that a unknown person crossed my path in this wooded glen and offered this insight to me: "Of all things to remember, of all things to act upon, it is this belief: God is and all is well." I wondered to myself, "God is what? Alive? Involved? Intervening? Almighty?..." And it gradually dawned on me that God simply IS; an integral and involved element of all aspects of Life. No pathway, not crossroad, no happenchance, no coincidence, no stroke of luck and no trivialmatter is without God's presence. Does that sound like a random and isolated Life to you? It is this presence that makes Life much more certain and exciting and inspired for each of us. 

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Perhaps it was Albert Einstein who may have summed up today's Morning Walk best. When asked about his own religious beliefs, he simply stated, "I look out into the universe and see order. If this is God, then so be it." Trivial or not, your path is soon to converge with many others in this wooded glen - take advantage of each passing and crossroad, my friend. Your intentionality will most assured be the deciding factor if an interaction was meaningful or simply trivial.

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