When I take our dog for a walk, she often likes to pause and sniff her surroundings, or she likes to walk slowly when I want to pick up the pace. I turn around and say to her, "Are you coming?" and I might give a gentle tug on the leash to keep her moving.
I thought about this as I was reflecting on what it means to follow the Lord. Ideally, I want to be right behind Him. However, sometimes I am distracted by my surroundings, or I am off on tangents that I have to admit are a waste of time. Or sometimes I procrastinate and the moment passes (like the phone call I neglected to make to a friend, and later learning that he had recently died). In these situations, I can envision the Lord turning around and saying to me, "Are you coming?"So I look up to Him. At times He is so far ahead that I can hardly see Him. With just a desire, I again can be following closely in His footsteps as He makes a way for me where I've never been before.
Or is He the one who comes back to me, exactly where I am, to continue our walk?
If I don't follow Jesus, I have no idea what my destination is or how to get there. If I'm lost, He is the one who finds me. He calls me out of my distractions. "Are you coming?"
And for this I give thanks.
Oh Shirley, I am laughing right now! As I started reading this post, I was thinking, yes, my relationship with Our Lord is definitely just like this: I am always barreling through my day, straight ahead, and frustrated at times by the circumstance that come up to keep me from getting through my to do list! What I really need to do is to listen to Jesus telling me to slow down, to not worry about may to do list, and to pay attention to the things that He is showing me! In your story, I’m the one holding the leash!
ReplyDeleteEither way, the point is the same – Thy will be done, Lord, not mine!
On second thought, yesterday, at Mass we sang: “Here I am Lord! Is it I Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go Lord, if you lead me, I will hold your people in my heart.” He definitely has hold of the leash!
ReplyDeleteWhen I have hold of our dog's leash, she is mostly very obedient. But sometimes she wants to pull the other way. I don't let go. The Lord will not let go of us, either. We only make it hard on ourselves when we try to pull in the other direction.
ReplyDelete