Remain in me

Eek, it’s been a month since I posted! The end of summer and the start of fall put many things into a fast pace, ending some and beginning others. I started writing several times but failed to finish, so thank you for your patience. I hope to do better!

I took to the skies last month with travel for the first time since before my transplant. I went to Illinois to visit family and friends, and I had a great time. I had no real travel issues, but did come home exhausted and with an infection. I'm currently working with the Doctors to clear things up, and I’m looking forward to my next trip.

When I got home, my younger brother, Ed, had already arrived, not for a visit, but to move in with me. He has been out of work, having broken both his ankle (and pretty severely) and then his hip several months later. He’s been very down on his luck in just about everything and came to live in Florida with very little. Please pray for him as he and I adjust and he continues to heal.

I wrote this little clip in my journal recently:

Dear Jesus, So are you a person or an idea? We who follow you know of your stories; we have prayed many prayers to you. We have called out in times of trouble, confusion, dire need, or great frustration. But I now reflect and wonder, are you an idea in my head - one of You, a supreme Creator times three, where one sits on a throne far away, one like the wind, and one like a high and mighty Son who judges me with mercy? Is God the Father and you, my Lord, and the Son, these names merely in word?

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

My thoughts came from a book study I recently started with a group of former classmates - an awesome group of women and men from the Heart of Christ School of Spiritual Direction. The name of the book is “Remain in me and I in you,” by Fr. Wayne Sattler.

Fr. Sattler challenges his readers to reflect on the nature of our relationship with Christ. With the often heard argument that states, “If only Jesus were standing before me as you are, it would be much easier to believe,” the author refers to the rich young man in the book’s introduction who asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus tells him to sell what he has and follow him.

Why follow him? Because Jesus is eternal life. He is the kingdom of heaven. He is the light, the way, and the truth. But pause. All these are words we repeat, that we have read in books and are now in our heads. We practice them in our actions, prayers, and at church. We believe them with our intellect.

But have they found their way deep into our hearts?

How do we know - when do we really know - that we are in the heart of Jesus and he remains in ours?

This conversation - dissemination - is to be continued…. with Chapter One next week. I look forward to our discussion!