Uncollected Pieces

collect* [noun] Middle English collecte, from Old French, from Medieval Latin collecta (short for oratio ad collectam prayer upon assembly): short prayer comprising an invocation, petition, and conclusion; [verb] Latin collectus, past participle of colligere to collect, from com- + legere to gather: 1. to bring together into one body or place 2. to gain or regain control of(thoughts)



Religion, says Frederick Buechner, points to that area of human experience where in one way or another man comes upon mystery as a summons to pilgrimage. Indeed, I have come upon mystery, a mystery in which I seek to comprehend, and yet in which I know I will never be able to fully understand.

The summons to pilgrimage must necessarily begin of course, with mile zero - since they are the musings of not just my mind, but my heart and soul, as I grapple with the things of my life, my friends, and my world.

Un-collected, because these are my attempts to pick up the pieces of the good, the bad and the ugly - left behind from the hustle and bustle of a hurried and harried day, and to bring together onto one page, faith and love, fears and doubts, mingled with joy and sorrow, and to turn them all heavenward in hope, invocation and in earnest prayer.

If we look just close enough and hard enough, we are bound to discover the fingerprints of God all over our world, and perhaps we may catch glimpses too, of the life of Christ here and there, now and then, alive in the hearts of our monstrous souls.