Come to me when you are weary
A cougar was attempting to attack a bear cub climbing a tree. A branch broke, dumping the cub into moving waters. The cub scrambled to a drifting log being washed toward a not-too-distant waterfall. The cougar ran alongside the torrent toward the waterfall so it could pick off the cub. As the cub neared the cougar, it had to jump into the water to prevent attack. The cub whimpered with a heart-rending cry, inevitably having to scramble to solid ground where the cougar waited.
The cub offered a feeble resistance as the cougar attacked the nose and head of the cub. The cub’s pleas sounded not unlike that of a child. Suddenly a roaring and rending sound paralyzed the cougar. The mother grizzly came storming on to the scene, causing the cougar to flee in no uncertain terms. The indignant mother stood and roared ferociously for several moments while the cub scrambled toward the heart-warming reunion.
The grizzly slobbered a salivary bath over the wounded face. Later the baby grizzly snuggled up to the mother, its tiny paws reaching out, touching the huge paws, and the tiny nose snuggled within the range of protection.
Our heavenly Father’s love is more perfect. When we “snuggle” closer to God in our meditation or prayer, we can be sure that as we reach out to touch God, that the hand of God is around us. If we cry for help, God’s care and response is sure and immediate.
One of the most consoling sounds we can ever hear are the words, “Come to me.” There is a heart-rending scene in The Miracle Worker where Kate Keller has been separated from her child for a whole week so Annie Sullivan could try to teach a blind and deaf Helen Keller. Finally the week is up and Kate cannot stand it a minute longer. She cries out, “Let her come to me!”
Jesus wants us as desperately as a mother wants her child. His words, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28) express Christ’s absolute longing for us. He wants us all, sinners and righteous; and we all qualify.
“Come to me!” Jesus calls us more than once. Three times he called to Simon Peter and asked, “Do you love me?” (John 21:15-17). Jesus longs for us every day. Our lives become crowded with fears, distractions and secular pursuits. We need to pause occasionally to listen, to let the Holy Spirit move us to hear the call of Jesus, “Come to me!”
Some years ago at a weekend workshop in Regina, at the closing liturgy on Saturday afternoon, I saw the father of the family with his arm wrapped about his eleven-year-old daughter. Her feet were sprawled, and her ponytail rested on her father’s shoulder. For the moment all the struggles and tensions, all the worries of school and peer group were at bay. This child was secure.
“Come to me all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” If you have been carrying something for several hours, it is time! It is time to put it into the hands of the Lord. Your burden will be lighter. God will give you a break from the tensions you have been under.
(564 words)
