Reflections on John 14: 15 – 18

“If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”

***

You comfort me when I obey you

for sometimes my heart drags

and grieves

to recall your commands.

I don’t mean to feel this way,

but sometimes

denying my flesh

and the pleasures of secrecy… hurts.

Only later do I realize:

the dead are there.

Only later do I revel:

your Word kept me alive.

You comfort me when I obey you,

for sometimes the temptation

unveils poor desires,

gaping needs,

deathly selfishness;

and You know the ache of finding these enemies

under my own skin.

You comfort me when I obey you,

knowing that reigning in my heart isn’t easy.

To endure the trembling, the choosing, the fleeing, the resisting…

It feels like a cross sometimes.

But You comfort me.