FOLLOW ME

When Jesus began his ministry, he walked up to those he wanted to train as his disciples and simply said, “Follow me” and they did. Just like that, according to the Gospels. They dropped everything and everyone – including job, family and probably even friends, all of whom thought they were crazy – and followed him. And, if the truth be told, they probably would agree: they were indeed crazy.

Why? Who knows why? They surely didn’t. There was just something about Jesus, certainly something very special, that propelled them into making the decision to follow Jesus. And my guess is that over the three years they spent with him, going where he was going, watching what he did, listening to everything he said, they still often wondered what in the name of God they were doing. But they continued on.

Sound familiar? We’ve all been there and still are. Somewhere along the line we decided that following Jesus is what we wanted to do, the way we wanted to live our lives. Yes, our following would be different than Peter’s or John’s following, but it would still be following Jesus, living the life he was leading and teaching us to live. And, like them, there have been times, probably many, when we wondered why we were doing this, but we carry on, as they did.

What we have learned over the years is that following Jesus did not necessarily take us to where we wanted to go because often we just did not want to go there. What it did was take us to where we were wanted, where we were needed. And where we were wanted and needed is where we really did want to go. Of course, we only discover that truth, like the disciples did back then, in hindsight. And for that we were, in reflection, thankful and so were those who needed us at that time.

What we have also learned, in reflection, is that there have been times when we refused to go where we were needed because the demands were more than we were willing to fulfill or thought we would be able to fulfill. We were probably wrong because what we learned during those times when the demands placed on us were indeed difficult, we were given all we needed to fulfill them.

Following Jesus was never meant to be easy, as the cross serves as an eternal reminder. But that is our calling, our vocation. Why Jesus called us to follow him may demand an answer, but the answer doesn’t matter. Jesus just did and we still are, sometimes kicking and screaming and telling ourselves that we must be crazy because it certainly looks crazy to others and even feels crazy to us.

So be it! We have been called to follow Jesus and go where he wants us to go and where we are needed. Our reward? Well, if we were looking for a reward, we wouldn’t have followed in the first place.