Daily Devotional for April 1

​

April 1                                                                 John 16:16-33
 

                             Following the Effort
                 In summer, my son squatted round
                Over an ant. Watched the creature
                           In painstaking silence
                   Lift, drag a scrap of sandwich
        Over inches, inches of sidewalk, sidewalk,
  To a (final) nest where others came to break it
                       Up and pull it underground.
          His wonder turned to realize my company,
         In his eyes, love for the courage of the
             Small one's brave, relentless effort.
  Suddenly, he knew his strength and smiled at me,
And I knew the feel of rough and wearing sidewalk
        Under foot. I laid a hand along his cheek
                                      In blessing.

Dear Creator,
We move, in life, covering an ant's distance across what seems
a never-ending course of rough and discouraging ground,
carrying the burden of learning and becoming everything we
can. Then, suddenly, what felt so torturously long is over, and
the sojourn ends. The work and effort seem secondary, the
passage, momentary. Remind us of the one who trod the path
before us, who learned so well the high price of his journey;
who left us for a moment, then reappeared and gave us his
name to take to you on our own behalf.

​

From The Road to Emmaus - An inclusive devotional Edited by Joseph W. Houle

Emmaus House of Prayer - Washington D.C