Dearly Beloved,
“I am the bread of life.
Whoever comes to me will never be hungry,
and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.“
—John 6.35
What does it mean to come to Jesus?
Maybe more than that moment of belief.
Maybe the coming is longer than one aisle.
Maybe it’s a lifetime of listening
to his inside-out invitations,
wrestling with his parables that wrestle you
to the floor over and over,
watching him love the unlovely from up close,
finding him in the unexpected,
among your enemies, among the unacceptable.
Maybe it’s just eating bread with him,
just sitting with him at the table, simply being there.
Maybe it’s receiving the bread in his hand,
receiving encouragement, hope, healing,
actually receiving divine love actually offered.
Maybe it’s not the arriving at all but the coming:
the turning, and turning again;
the walk, away from otherwise;
the seeking, the asking, the openness,
the reaching out with an open hand
(offering help or asking?),
the reaching that feeds our hunger,
never to stop reaching out,
even into the mystery
reaching out.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
August 4, 2021