Today, Thomas Merton takes us further on our discipleship journey by saying, “We have what we seek, it is there all the time, and if we give it time, it will make itself known to us.”
There is that trite saying that says, “you always find the thing that you have lost in the last place that you looked for it!“ But here, Merton seems to be saying that which we seek is there in plain sight all the time, if we would allow time for its presence to dawn upon us. On reading Merton’s proposition, my mind instinctively goes to the words of Jesus, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then all these things will be given to you too.” Matthew 6:33
The Gospel of St Thomas, not found within the Canon of Scripture, has Jesus saying, "I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained. Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there."
Another way of looking to Thomas Merton’s assertion can be seen the hobby of geocaching. Geocaching is searching for “hidden treasures” placed in the community by other people who like to geocache using a GPS (Global Positioning System) app on a mobile phone.
Yet, it is often easy to lose track of where the GPS is pointing in relation to the hidden cache. This occurs when you walk too fast or lose a signal. When this happens it is best to stop for a few moments and allow the tracking to catch up. Sometimes it is necessary to back track and start from a point where you were confident the tracking was correct, then slowly to start searching again.
This is a great discipleship illustration for when we find ourselves off track or not staying close enough to our spiritual GPS (God’s Positional System). We need to stay close to Jesus just like we do the GPS geocache indicator on a mobile phone when searching for the ‘hidden trasure’. For Christ will show us where to go and, in the process, reveal something our true identity as disciples of Jesus.
Generous God,
in abundance you give us things
both spiritual and physical.
Help us to hold lightly
the fading things of this earth
and grasp tightly
the lasting things of your kingdom,
so that what we are and do and say
may be our gifts to you
through Christ,
who beckons all to seek the things above,
where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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