John 16:29-33
His disciples said, 'Yes, now you are speaking plainly, not in any figure of speech! Now we know that you know all things, and do not need to have anyone question you; by this we believe that you came from God.' Jesus answered them, 'Do you now believe? The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!
Scattered...that's what happened and what continues to happen. I settle in to listen to the plain and clear words of Christ that are communicated to my heart as I pray, as I partake of His Word and His Holy meal....and in a heart beat, it seems, a stone is thrown into my mind by some happening in the world. The wholeness,the completion and solidarity that I experience before Christ "scatters" to various parts of my awareness. When that happens, worries, doubts, anxiety emerge....agitating thoughts that delude me by intimating to my heart that I can or should be able to do something that would alter the way of the world.
Gather me in again, Jesus.... I take courage in you. You ... your love, your presence in the grounding heart of the Father establishes me and anchors me so that my scattered ideas and emotions do not paralyze me with their force. Only YOU can conquer the world....and through your power alone, I can be rooted in the midst of persecutions of all sorts...subtle or insidious.
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