I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

Once I went into spiritual direction at seminary and began to complain with a whole litany of grievances. As I was just getting warmed up, my spiritual director smiled and said, “I am going to imitate a religious sister at my first assignment when I would start to complain to her.” He then began to sing (poorly) “Rose Garden” by Lynn Anderson. The main refrain of the song goes “I beg your pardon; I never promised you a rose garden...” As my spiritual director attempted to sing a bit of this song, I began to laugh recognizing his point: life is not all sunshine and roses, and I was never promised that the life of the seminarian or priest would be smooth sailing. To this day when I find myself complaining (which still happens way to often) I will play “Rose Garden” and get a good laugh at myself.

The lesson of my spiritual director has great relevance for all of us. Our Lord never promised that He came to take away suffering or difficulty. In fact, He told His disciples “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) He does tell us to take heart because in the end God will triumph. But in our individual lives we must “deny [ourselves] and take up [our] cross daily and follow [Jesus].” (Luke 9:23) This has certainly proven to be a difficult teaching to live out over the past 2 years, but I am pleased with how well I have been able to deal with these difficulties. I am also proud of how well others have handled the tribulations of the past year. Many have taken up their cross in a truly heroic manner.

In this vein, I would not say that I have been a failure as a leader or lacked spiritual fatherhood. Instead, the whole experience of the past two years has been an opportunity to grow in many virtues and wisdom as a whole. I am thankful to everyone who has helped me in that growth over the past years ranging the many loving parishioners in St. Joseph, Pillar of Families, the archbishop, my brother priests (especially my vicars), my parents, my sister and brother-in-law, my current spiritual director, friends, parish staff, many other supporters, and even those who have misunderstood or misrepresented me. All have shown me the loving providential hand of God the Father at work in my life. So even if it has not been a rose garden, the Lord has still been preparing a garden in each of our hearts though most of the work up to this point has been the task of tilling and weeding. With a new pastor I hope that the planting and blossoming of the garden that is our Family of Parishes.

Thank you to the many prayers I have received following my sinus surgery. While I am not back to 100% as I write this. I am feeling much better and already have indications is helping as it was intended to do. So, the Lord is good, and I am so grateful to my healthcare professionals who cared for me with great skill and charity. I am also grateful to the parish staff and my vicars who helped to pick up my slack. They are the best and I am so grateful for their generosity.

Peace in Christ,
Fr. Jarred Kohn