The Way It Is....

 "I am the way, the truth and the life..."
   John 14

 The Way It Is

There’s a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.

By William Stafford, from The Way It Is, 1998

Have you ever heard something which just clicked for you? the hand in the glove?  And you knew it was written for you?  That's the way I heard the Stafford poem above--put simply, "that's the way the journey is for me."  On the one hand--it is as definite as saying that "Jesus is the way, follow him"  And sometimes as tenuous as hanging on to a slender thread.  When Stafford wrote the above poem, he was relating to the fierce blizzards of the mid-west.  Often, the farmers tied rope to their barns from their homes just to be able to get back and forth to feed their animals.  Notice!  in the poem, the familiar rope for Stafford becomes the "thread."  You have to concentrate, persevere to keep hold of the thread.  For me, it has been deeply moving to know with certainty--we are not tied on to a barn or a house--but it is Jesus who is tied onto us.  That is the "way, the truth and the life" for the Apostle John.