Mtr Mary Trainor

Right or left at Oak Street is the choice I face every day. And I don't know which takes more courage, the staying or the running away…*

Dear friend,

Ever have the impulse to just hit the road? Leave everything behind? Start over somewhere that no one knows you? Become a new person?

I sure have. The impulse has always been very real in the moment, but I have never just dropped everything and run.

***

Today is the Third Saturday of Easter. I have chosen to reflect on scripture for this day from Year A (we are currently in Year C.)

Jesus is teaching disciples about spirit and life: “‘But among you there are some who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the beginning who were the ones who did not believe and who was the one who would betray him. And he said, ‘For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.’”

It was too much for most of the followers attending. They took off.

And I don't know which takes more courage, the staying or the running away…*

The twelve remained. And Jesus asked them: “Do you also wish to go away?”

Simon Peter said, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life…”

To whom can we go?

***

When I was sixteen and knew everything, I wanted to run. I was fed up with my situation, working seven days a week without pay, while also going to school. Life seemed so u-n-f-a-i-r.

I never left, but the notion of being free to leave brought some measure of comfort. It took years to realize choosing to stay was a decision, too.

My relationship with God in Christ is all about freedom of choice: “Do you also wish to go away?”

It’s a relationship continually in process, thus far surviving the thickenings and thinnings all relationships face. In the end, my answer parallels Peter’s: “Lord, to whom can I go?” Like Peter, I have found Jesus alone offers life.

Mtr Mary

*Right or Left at Oak Street, lyrics by Roy Clark.