Daily Devotional for March 11

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March 11                                                           John 6:60-71

             Where Can We Run?

When I was a little girl, I got mad at some fancied injustice
and ran away from home. I packed my little toy suitcase,
walked out the back door, and hid under the bleachers at the
football field across the street from my house. The time wore
on, and my mother did not come to get me. Eventually, as
I got hungry and nature called, I gave up and went home. Years
later I learned that I was being watched the whole time by
my mother, who knew my every move but had decided not
to come and get me. Sometimes I think our attempts to run
away from God are like that.

Perhaps you have known people who tried to run away from
God. Usually, if they've been honest with themselves, they've
found, as the psalmist did, that there really isn't any running
away from God:

       Where shall I go from your Spirit?
       Or where shall I flee from your presence?
       If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
       If I make by bed in Sheol, you are there!
                               (Psalm 139:7-8)

The disciples in today's reading evidently realized that there
wasn't any running away from Jesus, either. Jesus, hurt at the
desertion of many of the disciples, turned to the twelve and
asked plaintively, "Do you also wish to go away?" Their reply
indicates that they had contemplated running away, but had
realized that he alone had "the words of eternal life."

We, too, may have experiences that test our commitment to
the spiritual path we have chosen. Far from finding the way
all roses, we discover that it also harbors thorns of persecution
and misunderstanding. But we also discover that running away
would mean deserting our only hope for security and meaning
in this life.

    Jesus, help me to stand with you and not run away
                    when adversity comes. Amen.

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From The Road to Emmaus - An inclusive devotional Edited by Joseph W. Houle

Emmaus House of Prayer - Washington D.C