About ten years ago, unknown to me at the time, a picture was taken of my father-in-law stooped down at the entry of his house in the act of tying my shoe. It is a picture that I treasure as much as I treasure the memory of him and his life. We loved each other and yet we had a friendly push-pull sort of relationship: I delighted in my ability (and success) to tease him and in his laughing response; we entered into a sort of competition as to who could pack the cement poured into the basement wall frames the best as we were building our house…he didn’t do too bad at that at all, but I won. Last night I went looking for this photograph and couldn’t find it. I know it’s here somewhere (I saw it only a few weeks ago) and I will keep looking until I find it.
In scenario above, I know what I’m looking for and why – I seek that photograph because it has meaning probably only to me. But I ponder seeking in light Jesus’ question to the two disciples (Andrew and John): “What are you looking for?” (John 1:38).
Does not Jesus ask that same question of us too? It is a question he asks not once, but many, many times through the course of our lives. We ask that same question of ourselves too even when we are not conscious of a spiritual connection or prompting. What is it that we seek – from God, for our lives, in special circumstances, in the quiet of the dawning light and in the darkness of the night? Eventually (or often) we may ask and ponder what is it that God seeks of us – what is God’s call to and for us? The two questions go hand in hand. And…our discernment of answers to these questions requires a good deal of listening – listening in silence for and to the voice of God within the depths of our hearts, listening to the wisdom of the words of Scripture, listening for the movements of the Spirit within us and our world, listening to the signs of our times and our lives, listening, listening, listening and…then responding. We, like Andrew and John, Peter and Nathaniel and Philip and so many more, are continually invited to “Come and see” all that God’s Love has in store for us.
Peace on the Journey
Addendum (19 January 2009):
After searching high and low, literally every drawer and nook and cranny in the house, I finally found it! The picture, that is...
No comments:
Post a Comment