Faithful till death said our loving master; a few more days to labor and wait …*

Dear friend,

In 1987, three women singers—each at the top of her own musical brand—cut a long-awaited album aptly titled “Trio.” It contains a musical cross-section, including a gospel favorite of mine: Farther Along.

Nearly forty years ago, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt co-created a version of this song that is embedded in my soul.

Toils of the road will then seem as nothing as we sweep through the beautiful gates …*

In Matthew’s Gospel today, we encounter the compassionate Jesus, who always favors crowd over crown. When he sees the haggard and strained faces in this crowd, these regular people, he has compassion “because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

In those moments when I feel overcome by war in the Holy Land, global warming, hate-filled politics, any sort of inhumanity among us, disregard for other beings who are at the mercy of our human whims, the loss of friends, my own aging—it’s a lot to process. And I am not in control of any of it.

There are plenty of times, if Jesus saw me wearily shuffling along a dusty path, I am certain he may think, “There she is, harassed and helpless, like a sheep without a shepherd.”

He’d be right. With the exception of when I stop to remember that I do have a shepherd. And, to trust that that is enough.

Farther along we'll know all about it..
Yes, we'll understand it all by and by.

—Mtr Mary

*Farther Along. Source: LyricFind. Click here to listen to the song.

Mtr Mary Trainor