The Way, the Truth and the Life and Spiritual Companionship

How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14. 1 - 12

In John's gospel today, Jesus says something that is often misconstrued as a message of exclusivity when it is actually immensely inclusive. A short essay by C. S. Lewis called Meditation in a Toolshed "sheds light" on the inclusivity of Jesus' words. In it, Lewis tells the story of entering a toolshed and coming upon a beam of light shining through the otherwise darkened room. At first, he looked at the beam more as an abstraction than as a reality. He studied its features, observed the specks of dust floating through it.

But then he had an idea. Rather than looking at the light, he stepped into it. To paraphrase his essay, he looked along the beam instead of looking at the beam.

When he did so, he was transported. Not only did he see the shed differently, but he saw other things differently as well. He could see outside: the leaves on the branches, the blue sky beyond the door, even the sun off in the distance. When he experienced the beam rather than just observing it, it changed his whole perspective.

We do not need to do much to engage in detached observation or distant speculation. It is quick and easy to look at the beam. Perhaps we have become quite adept at the task.

But this is not what Jesus is asking us to do when he says,

“I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

Too many of us hear him say these words with sternness in his voice and as strict theological doctrine.

What he says here is, in context, far more hopeful… it is a call to embody Christ's sacrificial love.

Spiritual Companionship is a way to walk together in the "beam" of Christ's sacrificial love, gleaning from the journey an understanding of where the Holy Spirit is guiding you... listening, watching and wondering, honoring your calling and your relationship with God. If you or anyone you know is searching for someone to walk the journey with, please contact me at owene_courtney@yahoo.com, and let me share with you my experience of spiritual companionship. I truly believe that Jesus meant for us to journey together in this life,and there is no richer mode to know the way, the truth and the life than to walk with a spiritual friend. The beam will light your path and "change your whole perspective. "