After rounding a bend in the road, the travelers encountered huge obstacles in their path:  countless (actually, 350 to be exact) boxes were blocking the way forward.  The men were beside themselves.  They had an important mission here, and the way needed to be cleared at once!  A gentle giant named Phil Mohr, who claimed the title of Deacon in this land, explained these boxes contained food to be delivered to local families in need for the holidays.  This sounded like something they could help with, the wise men thought.  “This is your lucky day,” Balthasar told the Deacon.  “With our superior sense of direction, we can direct you in the movement of these boxes to help get them readied for delivery.”  With that fact established, the magi confidently climbed aboard the pallet jack.

Today's Quote:  Hope starts small, even as a seed in the womb, but it feeds on outrageous possibilities.  It beckons us to step out with the belief that the action we take will not only bear fruit but that in taking it, we have already made a difference in the world.  God invites us, like Mary, to open to God’s radical leading, to step out with sometimes inexplicable faith, trusting that we will find sustenance.  “Hope,” writes W. Paul Jones in trumpet at Full Moon, “is the simple trust that God has not forgotten the recipe for manna.”  The hope of God contains the promise that we will be fed, even if we never see the fruit of our hope-filled actions.

Today's Microchallenge:  Spend some time in prayer.  Ask God for a deeper faith, one that will respond to God’s radical leading.  How do you sense God wants you to step out in action in the world?