MEETING JESUS BY THE SEA OF GALILEE

“And seeing the multitudes, Jesus went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: ‘Blessed are…’”  (Matthew 5:1-3a NKJV)

One evening at sunset, as I sat by the Sea of Galilee, I was meditating on the Beatitudes, on the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for justice, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who suffer for justice, on Jesus calling them “blessed” and saying “theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” I felt drawn by the purity and simplicity of following Jesus, almost as if He found me there meditating and said, “Follow Me.” I was touched by joy then. It was the turning point. It was “the bread of the Coming One.” It was a taste of heart’s desire, I mean, a foretaste of Someone or Something still to come, an aftertaste of Someone or Something already come. I felt twenty centuries drop away between me and Jesus. I felt I was no longer a disciple at secondhand but a disciple at firsthand like Peter and John and Mary Magdalene. I thought again of the old man and his question, and I asked myself “Have you met Jesus?” and I found I could say “Yes!” 

-- John S. Dunne in “The Homing Spirit: A Pilgrimage of the Mind, of the Heart, of the Soul”

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