Jesus answered him,
“Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
–Luke 23:43
When You told the criminal,
“Today, you will be with me in paradise.”
I’ve always heard a promise of heaven,
his final destination.
But for the first time,
I also heard You speaking of
an awakening to a glorious reality
that is here now.
Today and every day,
in each moment,
You are with me
in the reality
that I am in God
and God is in me,
in eternal,
unchanging,
permanent
Love.
But this moment
and whatever it holds
is passing.
And so You say,
“When life delights you,
enjoy the gift of it
but don’t hold onto it.
“Honour the ordinary;
it may surprise you.
“Be patient in suffering
I know how hard and painful it is,
how it robs faith
and blocks out the light.
But the light still shines
and the darkness cannot extinguish it.
Even now,
even here,
as I suffer with you,
I am folding back the edges
and letting in the light.”
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen,but on what is unseen,
since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
–2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)
An Everyday Pilgrim 