Leadeth unto Life

Matthew 7:13-14

13. Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

14. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

When I first became aware of the presence of God and knew that that which we call God is real, the experience was boundless, as of infinity itself, and no words or definitions would suffice.  In the after (aftermath, afterbirth, afterglow) as I journeyed to seek union with the Infinite/Eternal One, I was determined to put no limits around my experience.  Revelation had come in the wide openness of a summer's day, beneath the spreading greenness of a grapevine and the blue-and-white effervescence of the sky -- therefore, I could not, I believed, come to understand and live the fullness of divine truth in any kind of structure.  No organized religion for me.

The thing about limitlessness is that, once you step into it, there is nothing upon which to grab hold.  I could have tried to right myself into the position that I thought was best but, to do that, I would have had to ignore the way of the Infinite/Eternal One.  Rather, loving truth, wanting only truth, I followed where it led me and, much to my surprise, found myself outside the door of the Church.  This time, I was not running out and away blindly, for the sake of running, never truly knowing what I had left.  Instead, I was flowing forward toward the open door, my own heart opened wide, my mind and will opened and reaching beyond beyond.  But how could I, with all my wordless wonder, my experience of infinity and effervescent soul, how could I ever fit within the walls of that structure?  How could I know and unite with eternity within that confinement?

I threw my head back and stretched my hand up to the sky, to the endless space beyond.  And, then... and then I saw: the steeple of the Church is pointing the same way, trying to reach up past the dome of the earth with the infinite directional points of the Cross leading the way.  The Church and I are one.  For I am limited, a finite structure bound to the laws of physics, always seeking, wanting to transcend to divine truth, always hoping to live in the infinite reality that lies within and beyond the created world.  And, so too, the Church is limited in Her finite, earthly structure and, yet... holy transcendence deep within Her heart.  So, I, earthly creature of spiritual soul,  stepped through the narrow door to the infinite space within.

Teach me.

Christina Chase