Paul, in his writings, calls the followers of Christ to believe in the glory and beauty of God’s kingdom to which we’re called. But, there is a paradox in our existence here on earth as well. In very poetic language, Paul describes how we are in fact fragile earthenware jars, but that the treasure that these jars contain comes from God, not from our own devices and our own efforts. In this world, we are confronted with suffering and death, which makes this present existence here on earth difficult and not glorious appearing at all. The world looks at things a certain ways, in ways that are perhaps confounded by our faith.
Recently, someone told me that it was unreasonable for someone to have to change planes at another airport, that even if the plane ticket was double the price, it was worth not having to put up with that discomfort and inconvenience. Yes, that is one way of looking at it. I thought of an experience that a friend of mine had - she taught at our seminary. She was traveling from Milwaukee to Lexington, Kentucky and was very nervous about flying. Traveling was something that was very difficult and nerve racking for her. Somehow, she got it into her mind that it would be better to travel by bus than to fly. How she thought that, I have no idea. Anyhow, she left Milwaukee on the Greyhound bus, transferred at the very chaotic bus terminal in downtown Chicago, and as she saw the sign on the freeway that said, “The people of Gary, Indiana welcome you to their city,” the door of the bus inexplicably flew open. The bus had to pull over on the side of the freeway; they were stranded there for hours until another bus came and picked them up, coming from Chicago. This professor described to me how terrifying this experience was for her. But, as they were waiting on the side of the road, she started talking to people on the bus, including a young man who was an immigrant from Central America who had been detained for several months at an immigrant detention center. She told how this trip on the Greyhound bus became a blessing to her, how it opened her eyes and how she saw God in the experiences of that trip and in the stories the people she met. I have found in my pilgrimage hikes, in my missionary work, and even in my priestly ministry, those unexpected, unplanned, in your face, raw experiences are the ones where we can really see God, in the midst of the suffering and the challenges and the rough edges that we face in this lifetime. We may want to avoid inconvenience at all cost, but in the process, we may be separating ourselves from those experiences where God will speak to us in very profound ways. Let us see those moments and the reality around us as opportunities that we have on our journey in encountering God.
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