Pastor’s Lenten Blog – Day 1
Greetings, brothers and sisters:
My associate/communications guru, Dennis Sanders, has been bugging me for months to start blogging on our web-site, and has even put my newsletter articles in to offer encouragement (or was it pressure?) Anyway, one of my Lenten sacrifices will be to TRY offering a daily posting, in the hope that after Lent, the good habit will be established.
In last Sunday’s reflection/sermon/homily (whatever you choose to call it), I lifted up a metaphor for the spiritual journey that I’ve been working on for a while. I don’t think it’s quite “there” yet, but I’ll toss it out anyway: The Spiritual Journey is like being in a dark cluttered room, looking for a cat that may or may not be there. Our “job” in life is to look for the “cat,” which is the answer to life’s questions, or a sense of meaningful living. But the true rewards of the search is not finding the “cat”, but instead being surprised by the other things we find while searching.
Sometimes we may find a gold ring, or pearl of great price, a treasure of learning or discovery that encourages in the search. Sometimes we may find someone with whom to share in the searching. Sometimes we may stick our hands in toxic substances, or get wounded by sharp edges; these are the tough lessons of life. Sometimes, sometimes we may even find the “cat”, but you know how cats are; they will only stay as the answer for our lives for so long before, impatient, they wiggle out of our arms, causing us to renew the search.
Why are we in the dark room? Because God, the creator of the room (or life) wants us to experience the searching, and growing through the search, so as to prepare us for the greater adventure of what will happen when we leave the room (or this life.) And what is Christ in all this mix? Christ is the flashlight, or candle, or light of some sort, that aids in the search.
It’s not a perfect metaphor but, for me, it’s one that seems to fit. Good luck in your search!
Bob
