Promises to keep

The text I'm using for this weeks sermon was the one much used by Bush about going the extra mile. It brought back floods of memory which may be too personal to use in church.
My first husband died whilst we still in our fifties. A poem echoed through my head at his funeral and in the weeks afterwards. It was the one by Robert Frost "Stopping by the woods on a snowy evening." the last line of this is
"And I have promises to keep and hours to go before I sleep. And hours to go before I sleep. "
This stayed with me for weeks and then months.. I had promises to keep but I was not sure what they were.
I had had my call to the church in my teens only to be rebuffed on the grounds of my sex. I had spent years exploring other faiths and having mild flirtations with them, always to return to Christianity.
The insistence of the words of the poem made me introspective. I withdrew from social activity for a while and focussed inward. I was at a cross road and had no idea which way to go.
Eventually I placed my life into the hands of God. From then on I would do what was asked of me. Shortly afterwards I was asked if I wanted to buy a friends house in Cornwall. Yes. Then if I wanted to sing in the church choir. Yes. Then would I be the church secretary. Yes again and to being a worship leader etc. The path to ordination was as simple as that. I simply said yes at each turning.
Keeping my promises have made me the happiest I have ever been. My only regret is that I was already an old woman when I finally fulfilled my call.
But better late than never.


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