Where Jesus lives

At our vocation discernment retreat last weekend the opening and closing prayer were centred on Jesus' invitation in John 1.39 to Come and see. As I reflected on it I was struck, not for the first time, by the fact that those first disciples never answer Jesus' question. What are you looking for? he asks them, and it's quite possible they have no idea. Seekers rarely do, especially as their questing begins: at most they might know they're looking for fulfilment or purpose, or something "more" or "other"; often it's only in the searching that the goal becomes clear, and that nebulous "more" or "other" acquires form and substance.

What are you looking for? those early disciples are asked, and I rather fancy them blurting out the first thing they can think of - Where do you live? And Jesus just meets them where they are; he goes with the question asked, rather than the one unanswered, by inviting them to come and see - an invitation which he still offers today. 

For most of us home contains our personal, private space; it's where we can indulge our tastes, where we can kick off our work shoes along with our public persona, curl up or stretch out, and relax. So when we invite a new friend to visit our home we're taking this friendship to a new, deeper level, inviting them to be with us in our space, whether messy or pristine, to know us differently, to be with us as we are. And Jesus' invitation to his would-be disciples is no different; he wants us to come and be with him, in deeper intimacy and friendship, to know him better, to be as we are. But the invitation is rarely to a physical space: ultimately, whatever the route, it is an invitation into our deepest selves, where he chooses to make his dwelling; where he chooses to be at home in us, as he invites us to be at home in him.

It's an invitation, yes, to an inner journey, to that precious space we can clear and create: and it's also a call, to proclaim with our lives the Presence within us, the joy he brings, and the difference his continuous indwelling makes in our lives. And may this God within us be what others can clearly and immediately see...