I am consumed by You. I know it in my heart; my mind repeats it like a mantra; my soul whispers it into each cell of my being. It is overwhelming. It is heart warming and safe-feeling, and scary. But the sun on my face knows it. The late blooming annual in its little green pot beside my coffee cup knows it. The damp rug under my feet and the splintering weathered porch chairs know it. Why has it taken so long for me to admit? To be consumed with the Almighty God is alright; to be consumed by the Almighty God is alright. In fact it is right; it is right indeed.
I remember sitting in this exact spot consumed with the idea of going to Serbia. In the beginning I tossed the ridiculous idea back and forth with its practicalities and impossibilities. But then without my consciously knowing it, the idea became a plan. And the plan became a passport and a plane ticket and a new suitcase. I’ve been there twice now with a longing to return. I know the power of being consumed.
To be consumed by You is different though. Like the four braces of the new Middle Bridge, it is awe inflating, beyond belief and questionably daunting. Unlike the bridge, the path is unclear, the goal is vague, the emotions churning like the river under the bridge with uncharted currents and breakers and turbulent. Is this real or just the over active imagination of a lonely old woman still looking for purpose to her life? I gaze at the new bridge but I remember the old one.
I have always envied Mary the mother of Christ who when visited by the angel Gabriel jumped at the opportunity to become the Holy Mother even though she knew it would mean the destruction of the life she knew as safe and of the wonderful future with Joseph. It could even mean being ostracized and death by the very community that had bred the idea with her to begin with. Yet she said ‘Bring it on.’ What courage! I’ve never said ‘bring it on’ to anything known or unknown. I analyze it, squeeze it of its richness and newness and then weigh it against the opinions of my world. ‘Bring it on’. or the modern version “Just do it.’
The DOT waited years before convincing Kittery and Portsmouth to build a new bridge. Like the prophets of old who were signposts for the New Birth, the first the downtown bridge was refurbished then replaced. Now it was the Middle Bridge’s turn. The verbal and legal battles ensued. The work was finally started, businesses ruined while Rt1 was rerouted. But in the end, the huge new bridge with its four tall cement towers was born. ‘Bring it on’ … ‘Just do it’… All is well…Nothing is impossible with God…I am consumed by YOU!
I remember sitting in this exact spot consumed with the idea of going to Serbia. In the beginning I tossed the ridiculous idea back and forth with its practicalities and impossibilities. But then without my consciously knowing it, the idea became a plan. And the plan became a passport and a plane ticket and a new suitcase. I’ve been there twice now with a longing to return. I know the power of being consumed. 
I have always envied Mary the mother of Christ who when visited by the angel Gabriel jumped at the opportunity to become the Holy Mother even though she knew it would mean the destruction of the life she knew as safe and of the wonderful future with Joseph. It could even mean being ostracized and death by the very community that had bred the idea with her to begin with. Yet she said ‘Bring it on.’ What courage! I’ve never said ‘bring it on’ to anything known or unknown. I analyze it, squeeze it of its richness and newness and then weigh it against the opinions of my world. ‘Bring it on’. or the modern version “Just do it.’