The Corridor of Shambles.
Soul Snack 26/10 ... The Corridor of Shambles
There are paths or corridors that course through all lives. They are the conduits of emotion.
There is the corridor of wonder (especially healthy in children), the corridor of worship and the corridor of worry (to just list a few).
There is a near pointless path that rambles through the spirits' and souls' of mankind. It is always clear when this path changes direction, as this happens at points of pain.
This corridor carries the accumulated shambles of each individual's earthly existence. It permeates but does not usually claim them. This corridor is simply the conduit of pain.
Yet are there times when 'the corridor of shambles' feels more like a highway?
I wonder if during the final three years of Jesus' life, He 'lived in' this 'corridor of shambles.'
Jesus had no where to lay His head, He depended on the unreliable and ignorant, while always being in the demanding 'firing line' of the needy and the pharisees.
His 'corridor of shambles' was filled daily as He walked the treacherous path up to Jerusalem. He was fed the diet of rejection, abuse and poverty. He wept for the masses that wounded Him. He pleaded with them to listen despite their wilful deafness. He even smiled upon them with a forever unseen grace.
Also coursing down His 'corridor of shambles' were His mis-understood intents, the refused grace and their judgemental, hurtful legalism.
To those who also know this 'corridor of shambles', who have longed for the tender kiss, lived for the warming embrace, and searched for the affirming smile, Jesus too carried these sorrows. He too longed, He too lived and He too searched for such things of life.
"Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows ..." (Is 53:4a)
Yesterday He carried my sorrows, so I don't have to carry them today.