[Take a trip across the 23 mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel as a metaphor of life's journey. Turn off the sound if you don't want to listen to the obnoxious music in the video.]
Some images are perfect metaphors for life's journey. Before Mass today, I was reading the morning devotion from Benedictus, Psalm 142, a pretty gloomy reflection:
For the enemy hath persecuted my soul: he hath brought down my life to the earth. He hath made me to dwell in darkness as those that have been dead of old: and my spirit is in anguish within me....
The image that popped into my head as I read this was the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. (I have a weird brain!) If you've never driven that route, it's a 23-mile bridge/tunnel, mostly above water but with two mile-long tunnels taking you deep under the bay. I've been through it once years ago and don't really have any desire to repeat the experience, although it is an impressive engineering marvel.
So why did I think about this today? Because life is a journey. Sometimes we're above water, enjoying the sunshine as it makes sparkling diamonds on its surface. We feel the sun. We see and hear the seagulls. The sailboats with brilliant white sails and cheerful flags make us think of happy vacations and joyful moments.
But we don't always stay on the bridge where everything is bright, sunny, and warm. Sometimes we descend into the dark tunnels. Imagine the weight of the water over our heads threatening to crush the little tube as we pass through it. And it's dark, so dark. Will it every end?
We read in Psalm 23 about walking through the shadow of the valley of death. But think how much darker it would be in a tunnel if the lights went out.
Much of life we spend on the bridge. All is going well. We travel along at a brisk clip passing through the days that speed by almost like the scenery in our peripheral vision. We have pleasant conversations with our family. Perhaps we listen to an audio tape with a fascinating story. We pass around drinks and snacks and play games and sing songs.
And then we come to a dark tunnel. We descend into the gloom of sadness and suffering. It seems like it will never end. The atmosphere in the car becomes silent and a little oppressive. Maybe some of us are scared. Will we ever see the diamond lights dancing on the water again? The weight of the world seems to weigh us down. Where is the light at the end of the tunnel; will we live to see it, or will we die in the dark alone and unloved?
It seems like that sometimes doesn't it? No one escapes the cross and we forget that every cross is willed by God. Job tells us that. "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." He doesn't attribute his troubles to Satan. In his wisdom, he knows God allowed it. The patriarch Joseph tells us the same thing. His brothers' malice was allowed by God in order to make Joseph the most powerful man in Egypt after Pharoah to save many people from the worldwide famine. Nothing "just happens." Whether what happens to us is good or evil, it all comes from the hand of God.
Don't misunderstand me. God can never will evil, but His will cannot be thwarted by evil, and he often uses evil things to bring about greater good. Does the surgeon cutting out cancer will the pain he inflicts on his patient? Of course not; he wills the healing. But the cure cannot be effected without the pain. God allows the darkness and suffering for our good. If we let it, suffering can purge and perfect us.
But even in the dark tunnels we are never alone. We have help. We have the lights that guide us and the lines on the road that keep us in the straight lane. We have ventilation making sure the poisonous fumes won't suffocate us before we emerge back into the light. We have confidence in the intelligent designers who made such a marvel of engineering. We travel in hopeful assurance that all will be well and we'll arrive safely at our destination.
Isn't that an apt metaphor of life's journey? The dark tunnels of life cannot defeat us if we place our trust in the Lord and walk (or drive) in courage and perseverance until we emerge once again into the light. And one day we will reach an unending paradise of light in the presence of the Lord joining with all our loved ones who have gone before us.
I hope you are on the bridge today, but if you are in the tunnel, remember you are not alone and that you will emerge once again into the light. Use the Eucharist and the rosary as your steering wheels and keep close to your guardian angel. And if you need extra help, Call the Poor Clares. All will be well.
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