when
this blessing comes,
take its hand.
Get up.
Set out on the road
you cannot see.
This is the night
when you can trust
that any direction
you go,
you will be walking
toward the dawn.
— Jan Richardson (author of Circle of Grace)
…the deepest darkness is the place where God comes to us.
In the womb, in the night, in the dreaming;
when we are lost, when our world has come undone,
when we cannot see the next step on the path;
in all the darkness that attends our life,
whether hopeful darkness or horrendous,
God meets us.
~Jan Richardson
When things feel like they can’t get any darker, we are joined by a living breathing God walking beside us on the road to Emmaus. He feeds us from His word, making us hunger for even more, our hearts burning within us.
Jesus makes plain how He Himself addresses my most basic needs:
He is the bread of life so I am fed.
He is the living water so I no longer thirst.
He is the light so I am never left in darkness.
He shares my yoke so my burden is easier.
He clothes me with righteousness so I am never naked.
He cleanses me when I am at my most soiled and repugnant.
He is the open door–always welcoming, with a room prepared for me – even me, the poor ornery person I am.
So when I encounter Him along the road of my life, I need to recognize him, listen, invite Him in to stay, share whatever I have with Him. When He breaks bread and hands me my share, I want to accept it with open eyes of gratitude, knowing the gift He hands me is nothing less than Himself, my forever Companion who leads me out of darkness into the Light.
Somewhere along the road
Someone waits for me
Beyond these present storms that blow
Waiting patiently
No secrets held in an open heart
A spirit that soars over mountains
Somewhere along the road
Someone waits for me
Somehow a guiding light
Always shows the way
To those who lose their way by night
Searching for the day
A day away from happiness
Tomorrow will bring a new sunrise
Somewhere along the road
Someone waits for me
Sometime when winds are still
Unexpectedly
Perhaps beyond this silent hill
A voice will call to me
Raise your eyes to see my world
Raise your voice and sing out
Somewhere along the road
Someone waits for me
Barnstorming 
Dear Emily,
All of this —- every thought, every word from Jan and you, is blessed beyond description — deeply profound and so needed as balm for our suffering souls in these anguished days in our human history as our Nation, our entire God-less World, are in the throes of collapse and eventual total devastation. More and more, I believe that we are in the final phase of the ‘end times.’ clearly described by the prophetic ‘apocalyptic’ writings in both Jewish and Christian Scriptures. I believe, also, that gifted posts like this one today are pure Grace — believing souls reaching out to us to buoy and sustain our hope and our faith that, as never before perhaps in our recent Christian experience, we MUST stop, listen, and believe with all of our being that He IS our ever-sustaining love and hope through His promised faithful Presence among us….
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