The other night as I was chatting with a friend, I was
reminded of a fruit from my silent retreat last summer.
Imagine this: walking into a new church, trying to locate
the tabernacle so you know where to genuflect towards. Essentially, where is
Jesus? I don’t know if you have had this experience, but it has happened to me
many times. If Jesus would just be kept front and center, it would be easy to
find Him. No searching necessary. Unfortunately, sometimes He has been placed
over to the side or out of the main sanctuary, so we are left searching.
In times like that, when I walk into an unfamiliar
church, I look for the soft flicker of the sanctuary lamp. The little red
candle that tells me, Jesus is present here. Here He is whom you are looking for.
It is almost instinctual, my gut reaction. When my eyes settle on the warm
glow, my mind slows, and my heart is at peace. He is here.
Jesus is just as present within me, within you, and
your neighbor as He is in every tabernacle. He is present here.
Although I am quick to search for the sanctuary lamp
in a new church or chapel, I am quicker to judge and label a new acquaintance,
an old friend, a stranger on the street. Dropping them into a category, into a
box, because it is easy.
If Jesus is just as present in these individuals, why
do I not seek Him out? Why do I not search diligently for Him, for the soft glow
of the sanctuary lamp, within each individual I meet until my heart has found
Him and can rest? He is there. He is always there, may we never stop seeking.
