Nowhere Else

Fr. Joe Newman, OSFS with his dad.

My alma mater, DeSales University, is about 500 miles away from my hometown, Toledo, Ohio. Since I didn’t have a car in college, my dad drove the 8 hours from Toledo to DeSales every year to pick me up for summer break.  Usually, he would stay overnight at the Oblate residence on campus, Wills Hall.  Then, we would drive together to Toledo the following day.  I thank the Oblates at DeSales for hosting my dad.  He loved staying with them.

I feel as though I reveal many of my shortcomings in these reflections in DeSales Weekly.  Well, here is another one - I’m always late. I chronically over-schedule and underestimate the time it will take to accomplish a task.  I write this fully knowing my community will reinforce this personal insight at tonight’s dinner.  

After my sophomore year in college, my dad arrived, and I had not packed a single thing. Library books needed to be returned, furniture needed to be stored, and personal items packed.  I knew I would not be ready for an early morning departure.  I looked at my dad and I said, “I am sorry. I know you took time off of work and drove all the way here for me. I am not ready.”  I felt terrible, like I was wasting my dad’s time.  I was so upset with myself. In response, my dad said: “Joe, you are my son. There is nowhere else I’d rather be.”  After hearing that, the tension left my jaw, and we worked to pack up the dorm room.    

I often have this same discussion with God. I often confuse our loving God with a dutiful one. With our spirituality emphasizing God’s presence in the here and now, I often whisper those words I said to my dad: “ I am not ready for you. You shouldn’t be here. I don’t deserve it.”  But our God isn’t present out of duty or obligation. God doesn’t secretly want to be somewhere else. God says, “You are mine. There is nowhere else I’d rather be.”  

Francis de Sales captured this in a letter of spiritual direction written in 1604. He writes: “Do all through love.” This is not only a suggestion for our lives, but it flows from Francis’ knowledge of God. “All through love” is perfectly derived from the most commonly cited biblical passage, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son” (John 3:16).  

Do all through love.  You are Mine.  There is nowhere else I’d rather be.

May God be praised! 

Fr. Joe Newman, OSFS
Provincial
Toledo-Detroit Province