Saturday, June 18, 2005
ARE THESE THE PATHS WE WALK?
By John Nichols
I often have analogized our life on this earth to a bus stop or to a door mat. Using the analogy of the bus stop, I see each of us waiting for a bus, hoping that the driver will recognize us, and take us to our final destination, heaven, where we can live with Him forever. Hopefully in our short time on earth, our little wait at the bus stop, we will form a personal relationship with the bus driver, Jesus Himself, so that He will joyfully and lovingly welcome us to our eternal home. Using the analogy of the door mat, as we are born, we climb up the edge of the door mat, peer over, and it seems as if it will go on forever. We do not see that what we just climbed up is a door mat. Remember when you were a child how long a day lasted? As we live more and more of our lives, months and years seem to pass much faster. Soon we see in the not too distant future the "end" of our lives racing up. We look around and see the brevity of life, and realize that we are standing on a door mat, before a beautiful mansion. How can we ring the door bell, high above us, so far out of reach? Soon the master of the house will open the door, unprompted, and hopefully invite us in. Will He recognize us, or will He lock the door, and leave us out in the eternal cold, or consign us to the fires of hell?
Let me use another analogy. Imagine you and I are walking across a grassy field. We see a cross floating about three feet in the air, horizontal or parallel to the ground, the foot of the cross pointing to us. We are stunned. We realize that this is the cross that Jesus was crucified upon. There are the blood stains. There are the nail holes! We look a bit further and see Jesus Himself, in the Glorious State of His Resurrection, sitting side saddle at the head of the cross, the far end of the cross from where we are standing. He is looking at each of us lovingly, beaconing us to come to Him. He is smiling at us and motioning us to climb up on the cross and walk to Him. It looks so easy. The step up is only three feet. We awkwardly climb up and begin our journey, balancing on this narrow beam. The surface of the cross is rough and we feel frightened. Will we slip and fall? We look at Jesus and His loving eyes give us the confidence we need to continue. The closer we get to Jesus the more eager we feel. We now feel the intensity of Jesus' love drawing us closer. We look at Him. Now we notice that His tunic is open and His chest is bare. We suddenly see His Divine Heart blazing before His chest. He is pointing at it with His left hand and motioning us with His right hand to run and plunge into His heart! Our joy is unbearable as we race the final few steps and dive into the ecstasy of His unending love. His love is inexhaustible. We hear Him laughing joyfully, crying with tears of delight, as His love engulfs us! Are these the paths we walk?
I often have analogized our life on this earth to a bus stop or to a door mat. Using the analogy of the bus stop, I see each of us waiting for a bus, hoping that the driver will recognize us, and take us to our final destination, heaven, where we can live with Him forever. Hopefully in our short time on earth, our little wait at the bus stop, we will form a personal relationship with the bus driver, Jesus Himself, so that He will joyfully and lovingly welcome us to our eternal home. Using the analogy of the door mat, as we are born, we climb up the edge of the door mat, peer over, and it seems as if it will go on forever. We do not see that what we just climbed up is a door mat. Remember when you were a child how long a day lasted? As we live more and more of our lives, months and years seem to pass much faster. Soon we see in the not too distant future the "end" of our lives racing up. We look around and see the brevity of life, and realize that we are standing on a door mat, before a beautiful mansion. How can we ring the door bell, high above us, so far out of reach? Soon the master of the house will open the door, unprompted, and hopefully invite us in. Will He recognize us, or will He lock the door, and leave us out in the eternal cold, or consign us to the fires of hell?
Let me use another analogy. Imagine you and I are walking across a grassy field. We see a cross floating about three feet in the air, horizontal or parallel to the ground, the foot of the cross pointing to us. We are stunned. We realize that this is the cross that Jesus was crucified upon. There are the blood stains. There are the nail holes! We look a bit further and see Jesus Himself, in the Glorious State of His Resurrection, sitting side saddle at the head of the cross, the far end of the cross from where we are standing. He is looking at each of us lovingly, beaconing us to come to Him. He is smiling at us and motioning us to climb up on the cross and walk to Him. It looks so easy. The step up is only three feet. We awkwardly climb up and begin our journey, balancing on this narrow beam. The surface of the cross is rough and we feel frightened. Will we slip and fall? We look at Jesus and His loving eyes give us the confidence we need to continue. The closer we get to Jesus the more eager we feel. We now feel the intensity of Jesus' love drawing us closer. We look at Him. Now we notice that His tunic is open and His chest is bare. We suddenly see His Divine Heart blazing before His chest. He is pointing at it with His left hand and motioning us with His right hand to run and plunge into His heart! Our joy is unbearable as we race the final few steps and dive into the ecstasy of His unending love. His love is inexhaustible. We hear Him laughing joyfully, crying with tears of delight, as His love engulfs us! Are these the paths we walk?
# posted by F O O D F O R T H O U G H T @ 4:55 PM 
