Our Artist's Rubbing

"Whenever I think that there is a design written into each life--a blueprint that can be known--I am reminded of those rubbings that artists make of stone carvings on  buildings and tombstones. I imagine what it would be like if we could have a rubbing or two of our lives, a map that would show us where we are headed and how to get there.

Sometimes I think  I would like that. We would have no blind alleys. Every road would be a royal road; but there would be no mystery, no work to do, no obstacles to overcome, and we would not need each other. After all, what are blind alleys but God's way of telling us that we missed the reading of a sign and to go back and start again. And what are our hopes and "sighing after" but rubbings something deep and hidden in us."

Elizabeth O'Connor - Eighth Day of Creation