I have started using a new vocabulary thanks to the first snow storm of the winter.  Are you ready for a little Latin?  Deo Volente is Latin for “Lord Willing.”  Steve Olmstead and I had reservations on a small air carrier to fly to Gustavus on Friday. The snow storm kept the planes on the ground in a weather hold past sunset, and then the snow stopped.  The little planes only fly to Gustavus during daylight hours by visual flight rules; which mean the pilot needs to be able to see where they are flying.  Thus winter travel by small plane becomes even more weather dependent than it is in the summer.  I have learned to take these delays in my plans in stride and not get all bent out of shape.  Instead I think of how I can best capitalize on the new situation.  I see these delays as opportunities to be available to God’s Will.  If God had really wanted Steve and me to be in Gustavus on Friday night eating pizza (our only plan), then we would have been there.

It turns out that this particular Friday was the twenty-first anniversary of Steve's and his wife Janet’s first date.  Because we were prevented from flying out to Gustavus as we had planned he was able to enjoy this anniversary with Janet by going on an impromptu date.  I got a ride back to St. Paul’s and found that Fr. Ed Penisten had also been prevented from flying to Haines by the snow storm.  So seeing a rare opportunity I suggested that Ed and I join Fr. Tony and Fr. Scott for dinner.  It turned out to be a nice evening to spend a few hours praying and visiting together and share a simple home (rectory) cooked meal,  something that only occasionally happens here in the Diocese of Juneau because the priests are so spread out.  Now, you be the judge, just what was God up to by preventing us from reaching our proposed destination?

Saturday morning our flight actually arrived early in Gustavus to find a winter wonderland with even more snow than we have here in Juneau.  Gustavus is situated on a glacier out-wash plain so it is very flat, with lots of sand and very few rocks.  The snow was so deep in our host family’s yard that Steve and I had to use snow shoes to walk out to the shed and unpack the life-size Nativity set.  Steve and I  also were   able to help a few of the locals shovel snow and we visited a number of parishioners in their homes.  That evening we had a potluck dinner for people to meet Steve who will be going out to Gustavus once a month to help me provide pastoral care for the growing Catholic community there.

After Mass on Sunday we were supposed to fly back to Juneau, yet another snow storm dumped a whole lot of snow both in Gustavus and in Juneau, placing all flights on a weather hold past sunset.  Because of this unplanned extra day we were able to visit another family in their home for dinner and watch the moose in the yard.  I was able to get in a few hours of cross-country skiing on the local roads while taking in the beauty of the snow covered trees.  We retuned safely to Juneau on Monday counting our many blessings.

In Arabic there is a common response to almost any question.  It is Inchallah which can be loosely translated “If God wills”, “Allah-inch”.  But Inchallah does not mean “maybe”.  Inchallah is a form of commitment- but a contingent commitment.  In a world where all things are willed by God, and fully understood only by God, we are faced with much uncertainty: the unexpected sometimes occurs, and we should not be so overconfident as to claim control of our time or even control of the future.  Inchallah is meant to remind us of this contingency.  Were we to translate it fairly, we would need more than one word: “provided all goes well, and that the unexpected does not occur, I will fulfill the commitment you have asked for, expecting no blame from you if I cannot deliver, and not blaming you if you cannot deliver.” Inchallah or Deo Volente is a vow of humility.  It reminds me that I am not God and it allows God to be God for me. 

The contingent nature of our  lives can be a rather frustrating experience for those of us who aren’t so accustomed to thinking of the world, and of our future, as products of a supra-human will.  To those ears the expression “Lord willing” can sound like an intention to flake, to default, and to avoid promises.  To the critic it can be seen as a refusal to commit, a defense against blame or guilt.  Now in many ways, this “Lord Willing” business is rather pragmatic—the truth is that we do not have total control and that unexpected events do occur. Actually, we all take these contingencies into account, making room for the unexpected: an accident that cancels a meeting, a reversal in fortune, a weather delay that causes a change in plans.

So while we universally recognize the contingent nature of life, different cultures adopt different means of expressing it, of weaving it into daily life.  Here in Juneau the winter weather has us talking about our local and distant travel plans, or certainly any outdoor activity as “weather dependent.”  Might we start saying also thinking of our future plans in the religious terms of “Lord willing, Deo Volente, Inchallah”  It has helped me these last few weeks to again a better appreciation of just how contingent on the Lord’s blessing so many of my plans really are.  Even the best laid out plans are bound to change, in the change may we all be open to the working of God in our lives.

I look forward to seeing you soon, Lord Willing.
Fr. Thomas Joseph Weise