convolution… 1a a form or shape that is folded in curved or torturous windings.” (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition. Bold emphasis mine.)

[Imagine a photo here, of a road sign warning, “Winding road, next five miles,” followed  by a couple shots of twisting, turning roadway. Driving out to capture them is not yet advised, due to Hurricane Sandy’s passing.]

Writer’s block or writer’s dearth (of ideas) is not my problem right now. 

My problem is having so much to tell that I don’t know what to write and post first, second, third… even when I thought I had one series of posts (then another) all mapped out in my mind.

God does a miracle and throws me off my course! Now I have a lot of other things to say, and the pathway of my life looks to be veering sharply in a whole different direction!

God is like that.

If there’s anything I’ve been learning lately it’s that God is unpredictable. Oh, He’s totally truthful and reliable and faithful to His promises, but the way He fulfills those promises, and lays out His plans for us, often surprises the careful reasoning right out of people like me!

You can’t get ahead of God. You can’t second guess Him. His thoughts and His ways are higher (way higher) than ours (Is 55:8-9). He knows the plans He has for us (Jr 29:11 NIV), but the secret things belong to God (Deut 29:29), and we do well not to think too far beyond the next step He has waiting, right in front of us, for us to take.

I read scriptures like Proverbs 3:6 and think A-to-B movement from start to ultimate destination.

But the Hebrew word in it that comes from “straight” (“direct”) is almost always used figuratively. And figurative meaning can utterly differ from literal. As, an “upright” man may have a badly bent back, or even lie constantly prone due to disablement, say from persecution. To keep going “straight” for a recovering alcoholic may mean taking routes that circumvent old haunts too tempting. To “straighten up and fly right” can mean… what? Interpreting that saying literally ends us up in confused contradiction.

Following God and taking the path that He directed (“made straight”) took Abraham here and there, left and right, up and down, at different times. Same for Paul, for whom following God’s missionary track for him led him in convoluting paths.

God’s direction for me, which I thought I (might have) had figured out, now seems to have made an abrupt turn, and I am still processing this thing that has happened to me. What I’m now writing, starting in my personal journal, focuses mainly on this processing.

Meanwhile, I don’t want to lose the two blogging threads I already began. And husband advises, “Write it all down so you don’t forget it.”

So today, still soggy from Sandy, with millions out of electrical power and therefore internet connection, is an opportune time to hover over a keyboard. I may post nothing (after this) for a few days, or I may publish clusters of posts on the three different (sub)themes twining around each other on this blog.

Twisting, twirling, and twining seem to be the main theme here right now, don’t they?