What If? \nBy \nJoseph Anthony Petro \nInspired by Father J.P. de Caussade, S.J.<\/p>\n
What if we were being written as we speak, \nAs we live, as we move? What if our lives were one \nInterconnected, interwoven revelation? One story, \nOne plot, one theme? What if our every step and breath \nWere known, seen, loved, and allowed to unfold \nIn ways that always and ever ended with breath-taking \nNew beginnings, and that every new beginning \nWas somehow more beautiful, unexpected, and startling \nThan the last? What if every revelation, every new chapter, \nEvery page was part of one book of life in which the author intended, \nWilled and wanted the very best for each and every character \nAnd that every word, punctuation mark, indentation, \nAnd sentence was composed through you with foresight and wisdom, \nAnd that somehow, matter what it seemed like fit together perfectly, \nAnd that when we went back and read what was written \nIt all made sense and we said, \u201cOf course, that was meant to be?\u201d \nWhat if, despite not liking some of the twists and turns \nAnd cliffhangers, or the sudden, unexpected \nExits of our favorite characters, or the annoying returns \nOf ones we just can\u2019t stand, that no matter how \nConvoluted, distressing, painful, or tragic it all seems, \nThat the arc of the story is eternal and the ultimate \nStoryline is a road to everlasting joy and a deeper understanding \nOf who we really are? What if the more that drops away \nAs we go on reading, and the more the story \nSimplifies, that we become lighter and lighter until one day, \nOn what we thought was the last word, the letters suddenly lift, like \nSo many birds scattering heavenwards, \nAnd the story continues, unfettered, untangled, \nUnencumbered by the confines of the language \nOf time and space and expectation, and we soar, completely free \nIn a radiant book of thanks?<\/h5>\n