road to the abbey//upstate ny
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“It matters to me
Took a long time to get here
If it would have been easy
I would not have cared”
– from “Wonderful (The Way I Feel)”
My Morning Jacket
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“You know me and also know where I am from.
Yet I did not come on my own,
but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true.
I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.”
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This might be sacrilegious, but I can see connections between these two excerpts. In the song lyrics, I hear my own voice acknowledging how the journey has shaped me…something I am very mindful of as we get closer and closer to the Easter Vigil at the end of Lent. I also hear the voice of a friend who used to tell me that it should be hard, that the things that come easily are not the things we truly cherish.
The lines from the book of John in today’s Gospel reading are in the context of increasing danger for Jesus. He has been preaching and doing miracles, stirring up all kinds of emotions, inciting anger from local religious leaders. Here, Jesus calls out to those assembled at the temple and tries to explain the paradox they face, that the son of God is going to be an unknown, yet those nearby do know his provenance. I’m no theologian, but I think he wants the people to understand the essence of his coming, how the incarnation is more about WHO he comes from than it is about WHERE he comes from.
My prayer for today is that I can be more aware of Who I come from, of the One who is true, and to be patient (and gentle) with myself when the road feels longer and more difficult than I would like.
silences of stone 