My wife, Anna, and I recently moved from Saint Petersburg, Florida to Tulsa, Oklahoma I had lived in the same house since 1981. Anna had lived in Tulsa before but many changes have occurred since she left 22 years ago. Pulling up stakes is always scary. We had a support system in Florida: A Church we loved, family and friends we laughed, cried and served with together. Still, once the decision was made we had work to do.
There was an extreme amount of preparation, most of it was done by Anna. since I was still employed full time. Our days and evenings were consumed by moving!
We hired a realtor. We packed, staged, and made repairs. We donated or gave more things away and discarded broken and outdated “stuff”. To our surprise the house sold in just 10 days! Then the work really began.
A moving company was hired and more things were discarded or given away. The next scary direction we took was to signing a lease for a townhouse, sight unseen.
Our biggest realization was the home we loved was no longer ours. The pictures and mementos we treasure were all packed and the shell of our home was just someplace we slept at night. The experience was both physically and emotionally exhausting.
This brings us to the Gospel of John for today: ” I am going to prepare a place for you“
We all know our true home is Heaven, but did Jesus just say he was going to do the preparation? He will prepare the way. Jesus says ” Do not let your hearts be troubled.” [No worries, Jesus is in charge]. Nonetheless, we cannot relax.
Do we have to do anything? Yes ! Yes, we do!
Saint Thomas asks the question for all of us, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?“
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
The most important thing that I can see for you and me today is that the directions we follow hinges around Jesus doing the heavy work and showing us the way. We arrive at His way by prayer and our relationship with Him. Do I say I trust Him and have faith in Him and do I really believe it?
Myself, I trust where I am going and that Jesus has the right direction for me because I believe He has my back. He has yours as well. Wherever, I live on earth, He has prepared the way. Jesus speaks to me in scripture, fellow believers and perfect strangers. I trust in Him because just like Thomas said we do not always know were we are going.
“I am the way and the truth and the life”
God Bless
Bob Burford
Please pray for our Pope Francis, our bishops and the priests and nuns who serve us in our faith communities.