Rector’s Reflections
Friday 4th April 2025
On Making Good Decisions
In yesterday’s reflections, I shared some thoughts on the idea that when it comes to making a decision on an important matter, it can often be helpful to take things step by step. Instead of trying to guess what the end result of our decision will be, we might well find it more helpful to focus on the here and now, and ask ourselves : what might be a good next step? Decision making is a journey, and we progress step by step.
In the words of John Henry Newman, “one step [is] enough for me”. This phrase is found at the end of the first verse of his hymn, “Lead, kindly light, amid encircling gloom”.
Newman’s hymn was written in June 1833, when he was becalmed on a ship, travelling between Palermo and Marseilles. He had been on holiday in Italy with his friends, but had fallen ill, and was returning to England. At this stage in his life, Newman was still a member of the Church of England. But he was deeply concerned about what was happening in the world of politics and in the life of the Church.
This was a time in Newman’s life when he knew he needed re-assurance, and that this re-assurance could only come from God. He knew that this meant that he needed to surrender his pride and self-will, and place himself in God’s hands. But Newman was a human being, and a human being equipped with great gifts and insight. He was one of the great thinkers of the 19th Century, and people still study and debate his theology in our own day. Newman knew how hard it is for us human beings to place our future in God’s hands. We like to be in control, and to place ourselves at the centre of our lives. We like to make the decisions by ourselves.
Newman knew this, and so the second and third verses of “Lead Kindly Light” read as follows :
I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thou
Shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path; but now
Lead thou me on.
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will : remember not past years.
So long thy power hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on
O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone,
And with the morn those angel faces smile,
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.”
I wonder what you make of the reference to the smile of “angel faces” in the penultimate line? Interpretations differ. Some have seen this as reference to Newman’s much loved friends, who he has left behind him in Italy. Others have seen a reference to friends and family members who have died, and gone to Heaven. In our grief, we can comfort ourselves that there will come a time when we will be re-united – we have indeed lost our loved ones, but only for a while.
However we interpret this particular line, I think Newman’s poem provides us with a good point at which to finish this current series of reflections on the art of decision making. Yes, it is good for us to come together as Christians and seek our collective wisdom. Yes, it is good to seek advice from a Spiritual Director. Yes, it is good to take things step by step. These are all good things to do. But I wonder whether there might be an even deeper wisdom in following Newman’s advice, and see our decision making as an exercise in Christian humility. We need to repent of our wilfulness and our pride, and surrender our lives into God’s safe-keeping, praying that God will lead us on – “o’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till the night is gone”, and the morn of God’s new day has dawned. And we can be confident that God’s new day will indeed dawn, in God’s good time.