Perhaps it should be
my resolution
for the New Year
or even
my mantra
for the next twelve months.

To seek the unexpected.

Maybe, it will even become
a poem.

To seek the unexpected.

Like going alone
to an unknown museum
exhibiting
an unknown artist
and finding a new love

instead of running with the crowd
at the big museum
past well known paintings
at their blockbuster
exhibition

or taking the backroads to work,
less direct,
less traffic,
slower,
but worth it
for the different horizons.

This evening I went to church.

It wasn’t a high holy day
like Christmas or Easter.
It wasn’t even Sunday.

It was less than a week
after New Years,
when the usual resolutions
start wearing thin
and your thinking of taking down
the Christmas decorations.

Epiphany.
seeking the unexpected.

What was it like
for the Magi
traveling to a different country
and finding the new ruler
in an unexpected place?

What was it like
for Mary
having strangers visit
after her unexpected
and long expected
labor?

What would it be like
singing the familiar hymns
praying the familiar prayers
with a small group of faithful
on a weeknight?

The one thing
about seeking the unexpected
is that you usually find it
and it is wonderful.