Unread Messages

“Did you receive our invitation?” I drew a blank when a friend asked why I hadn’t responded to a hospital event invitation. How could I have missed that? I pondered as I fished the e-mail out of my spam filter. When I found the missed message, I wondered what else I may not have seen. What has come and gone without my awareness?

God, am I away from my desk when you try to reach me? I imagine a cache of neatly arranged and unread messages God sent me. There are four folders: Unanswered Prayers, Graces Unseen, Sent by Angels, and Blessings Uncounted.

Unanswered Prayers

In the Unanswered Prayers folder would be the problems and issues I prayed about but, for whatever reason, I didn’t hear or recognize the answers. Would I find here the divine answers remaining unread or unrecognized? When have my own impulses or strong will drowned out God’s words? No wonder these messages remain unread.

Graces Unseen

A second folder, Graces Unseen, bulges with the blessings and graces of a long life, starting with a faithful family and lessons learned through great struggles that led me here. Even when I was unworthy, ungrateful, or unloving, God granted me unseen graces, including good health, loving relationships, steady progress, contentment, a rich, fulfilling life, and abiding faith in God.

Sent by Angels

In the Sent by Angels category, I’d find the people God or the angels placed in my path to save me, teach me a life lesson, or model a spiritual value—whether they appeared for a short or long time. There was a community-college counselor, who cared enough to help me paint a larger vision for my life. There was the gracious boss, who threw me a going-away party in my 20s ahead of an out-of-town job move. And I recall the beloved neighbor, a retired fire-department mechanic, who modeled love and extraordinary neighborliness for my husband and me. All three have passed away, but their kindness left indelible marks. They could never know that, decades later, I remember them by paying it forward and offering prayers of grateful thanks.

Blessings Uncounted

Try as we might to live a grateful life, the last category of unread messages would be Blessings Uncounted, documenting the ripple effect or adjacent blessings. How lovely it is to review this collection of turning points: the small actions, favors, or serendipitous meetings leading to something rich and wonderful. For one, my husband of 33 years is the blessing; we may not have met had our mutual friend Jen not introduced us. Jen’s intentional setup changed our lives. More recently, in helping to welcome mother-daughter Ukrainian refugees to our community, the uncounted blessing was meeting several dear friends through that effort. I also am grateful for the blessing of facilitating small groups at church. Beneath that blessing was a pivotal change in parishes when I moved that enriched my spiritual life.

Do You Accept the Invitation?

I am certain that there were times I missed God’s voice, made wrong moves, or was not listening. Even so, it feels good to have unpacked the unread messages through the eyes of spiritual maturity and the knowledge gained through many years of life and reflection. Whatever I missed in the moment, I appreciate more expansively in hindsight.

Did you accept my invitation? God might ask me.

Yes, Lord. I received and accepted your invitation. I understand your desire for me to share my gifts and love more fully, to be more present in prayer, to receive your words in real time, and to listen without interrupting.

May I find your answers to unanswered prayers. May I work to recognize the graces you grant me. May I love and cherish the people you and the angels place in my path. May I count and celebrate all the blessings and the divine actions that led me to them. And may I live to serve you by sharing my God-given gifts with those who need them, through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash.