Compass

"What are you doing here?" 1 Kings 19:9.

Unwelcome events may cascade relentlessly such that we lose our sense of direction. Sometimes we must go back to the place where things first made sense. Where we first got our compass. Where we first saw the clear path ahead. We hope to regain composure in that place. The place? Maybe it was a hometown. Or family. Or friend. A quiet valley. A mountaintop. And in that anchoring place we review the early dreams and the late chaos. In the quiet pilgrimage from despair, we hear the guiding Word once again. Just so, Elijah went back to the mountain where his people got their start so long ago. And there, God asked Elijah the question above, twice, so that Elijah could completely unburden his broken life. Then, in the Word he heard there, renewed, he finished out the path laid out for him.

We meet with a brother or sister so that, in eating the bread and drinking the cup together, we remember where we're going. And, together, thankfully remembering God's love and sacrifice, regaining direction, we follow Jesus on to path's end.