Step Ten - Roadmap


GospelJohn 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.




How often we take the opportunity to smile at Thomas; the one who always seems to be a step behind the rest; the doubtful one; the one who would not go anywhere without a map and a compass.


In this respect, maybe Thomas is a better example than we assume he is.


In our lives; spiritual or otherwise, we have journeys; we have tasks. At times, when things are going well,  we become overconfident; begin to believe that we have got 'it'; that we have found our balance.


Sometimes we even become so blase that we believe that we 'know it all'; we are so keen to leave behind the memory of failure and the hurt of 'not good enough'. 


There is more than one way to read the Gospel; perhaps Jesus does not sigh at Thomas' childlike and insecure comment; perhaps he is glad that Thomas has not taken hold of the teacher's staff for himself. And he smiles as Thomas admits to still being unsure;still needing guidance; still needing Jesus to be the wayfinder.


There is no-one more likely to fail that a person who knows all the answers. Jesus is the one who walks ahead - the only one who truly knows where he is going - the path that leads to the Father. 


By following him; by asking Jesus to show us the way; by questioning our own egos; we will move on to the the place, to the home,  that he has prepared for us.  





I pray I may continue:
        To grow in understanding;
To be aware of myself;
To correct mistakes when I make them;
To take responsibility for my actions;
To be ever aware of my negative,
Self-harming attitudes 
To keep my willfulness in check;
To always remember I need Your help;
        To love others; 
        To continue in daily prayer how I can best serve You,
My Higher Power




wordinthehand2012.



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