There is no "meantime"

I'm scheduled to report to Holy Trinity Seminary in Irving, Texas on August 20, 2006 to begin priestly formation for the Diocese of Austin. The application process is completed. Every "i" dotted, every "t" crossed. I'm in. The only thing left to do now, is wait.

That last sentence, I have to keep reminding myself, is patently false. There are three months and six days between now and the day I report to seminary. I have been telling myself that I cannot wait to get out of my office and go there. I want to be there now.

And the situation is not unique to myself. Everyone deals with this on one level or another. We are not particularly good at the interim, "the meantime." We want to get down to the business of things. We can't wait.

And the good news is, there is no need to sit on our hands and do nothing during this iterim. In fact, this interim is not an "interim" at all. Today, this very moment, is the day that God is calling us to really do his work. That work does not begin when we go to seminary, or graduate from high school or college, or get ordained, or get the new job, or move to New York City, or whatever else. These are human characterizations of when we are supposed to get down to the business of things. We know that at some point, God will call us forth into those exciting new horizons. That exciting new horizon arrives for me in just over three months.

But that's not the question. I know what God is going to want me to do on August 20. He will want me to wake up, take I 35 north 220 miles to Dallas Texas, exit into Irving, and report to the seminary between 12 noon and 4 p.m. There's dozens and dozens of days between now and then, most pressing of which is this one.

What does God want me to do on May 14, 2006? Who does he want me to talk to? And what does he want me to say? Who does he want me to pray for? What good works is he calling me to do? That is the exciting horizon that God is calling us to this very moment. Just because I'm not journeying off to a new city and a completely new environment doesn't mean God doesn't have something very important that he is calling me to accomplish. The same is true for every Christian who thinks that today is "just another day."

The time to do God's will is now. There is no "meantime."