Step Ten

Gospel John 14:1-6 
Jesus said to his disciples:


‘Do not let your hearts be troubled.
Trust in God still, and trust in me.
There are many rooms in my Father’s house;
if there were not, I should have told you.
I am going now to prepare a place for you,
and after I have gone and prepared you a place,
I shall return to take you with me;
so that where I am
you may be too.
You know the way to the place where I am going.’

Thomas said, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus said.

‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.
No one can come to the Father except through me.’

 Step Ten; Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.


The repeated message of comfort and assurance that Jesus is giving this week in the Gospel readings fits in very well with the ethos of the Twelve Steps. Even Thomas' requests for re-assurance show that no path is ever going to be without challenge or faltering along the way.

Thomas' anxiety shows how much he needs his Lord - he is not prepared,  he is not able,  to make this journey alone.

There is a great sense of achievement in reaching this moment; like the first few weeks of a diet or exercise regime; it's energising to make changes; to see improvements; to make amends; to look back and know that life is better. The Steps are not meant to be a 'once and for all' cure for what has ailed us. We are more complicated than that.

A roller coaster of a life, with alienation, anxieties, anger and accusations, provides it's own theatrical 'thrill'. Like 'adrenelin junkies' - what's happening may be bad for you but at least it's 'happening'. Ask any middle of the road, well behaved student - it's much easier to be caught being 'bad' than being 'good'.

Learning to live with the quiet satisfaction of being 'good' is a skill we need to nurture. Every day we need to remind ourselves of our vulnerablility before God and before others; to let God Love us so that we can be guided towards the place that has been prepared for us.

We have to keep our hearts and minds open. Having come to a point where we know who we are; when we have made our amends; we can truly take each day as it comes using the guidance we have already received to inform how we live our lives rather than rebuilding barriers of grievances and regrets.

There may be days when the only answer is to return to Step One -

but Step One will be the answer -

and there may be guilt but there should be no shame in that journey either.
'Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God still, and trust in me.'


wordinthehand 2011







Comments

Anonymous said…
Great comfort in those words, 'Do not let your hearts be troubled'. I find it difficult to live with 'Im good enough,' it's a grace I pray for.
Andie
21 May 2011 at 02:00
Mairie said…
It's not who says it Andie - it's the Lord - and more than good enough - blessings
21 May 2011 at 02:56
Mari Nuñez said…
Powerful verse:‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.
No one can come to the Father except through me.’

Wonderful post Mairie :)
21 May 2011 at 11:20
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Listen

Image
Jesus said: ‘I tell you most solemnly, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the gate, but gets in some other way is a thief and a brigand. The one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the flock; the gatekeeper lets him in, the sheep hear his voice, one by one he calls his own sheep and leads them out. When he has brought out his flock, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow because they know his voice. They never follow a stranger but run away from him: they do not recognise the voice of strangers.’ Jesus told them this parable but they failed to understand what he meant by telling it to them. So Jesus spoke to them again: ‘I tell you most solemnly, I am the gate of the sheepfold. All others who have come are thieves and brigands; but the sheep took no notice of them. I am the gate. Anyone who enters through me will be safe: he will go freely in and out and be sure of finding pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so ...
Read more

On and on and on and...

Image
Gospel Luke 18:1-8 Jesus told his disciples a parable about the need to pray continually and never lose heart. ‘There was a judge in a certain town’ he said ‘who had neither fear of God nor respect for man. In the same town there was a widow who kept on coming to him and saying, “I want justice from you against my enemy!” For a long time he refused, but at last he said to himself, “Maybe I have neither fear of God nor respect for man, but since she keeps pestering me I must give this widow her just rights, or she will persist in coming and worry me to death.”’ And the Lord said ‘You notice what the unjust judge has to say? Now will not God see justice done to his chosen who cry to him day and night even when he delays to help them? I promise you, he will see justice done to them, and done speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on earth?’ A strange Gospel this; mostly because of the insinuation that we can get whatever we want from God just by nagging. ...
Read more

The Fourth Shepherd

Image
There are many characters in the story of the Nativity but one that we rarely hear of is the Fourth Shepherd. When the angels came that night to bring the Good News, they began with the most unlikely. Shepherds were a tough lot, weathered and self-reliant,  who had to survive out on the hills protecting their flock from the weather, the wolves and their own stupidity.  Once the shepherds had gotten over the shock and wonder of the glory of heaven shining all around them, they immediately wanted to go and find the baby; the lights of Bethlehem beckoned as brightly as the stars – ‘Come and see’. The could barely stop to wrap their cloaks around them. They took hold of  their staffs and each caught a light from the fire.  All except one. One young shepherd remained seated, looking into the fire. When the others asked him why he wasn’t ready, he replied that he was; he was ready to stay behind and take care of the flock. The other shepherds ...
Read more