The one thing necessary

 "Do not let you hearts be troubled," says Jesus in today's gospel (John 14: 1-6). It is almost the most important command of spirituality that Jesus delivers to us. In this scene we are at the Last Supper on the eve of the crucifixion. Earlier, we heard similar words during the sermon on the mount: "For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, what you will eat, and not for your body, what you will wear" (Matthew 6: 25).

We worry because we are away from our Father's house. And yet in another way, it is only our perception - our lack of faith - that suggests we are absent from our Father's house. In the same discourse Jesus promised the disciples that He and the Father would live in those who love Him. For those who love Jesus, while we await what we hope for - final arrival at the Father's mansions - we find this extraordinary gift within our possession: that God comes to live in us. He takes possession of our souls and makes them all His own. If there are many rooms in the Father's house above, here on earth there are many rooms which God makes His own house to dwell in with His children.

So, why are we troubled? We cannot resolve this tension while we remain wayfarers. We are on a journey and yet we are already home. We are separated and yet we are united. We endure God's absence while knowing His presence in our lives. Our hearts are tethered to the eternal and to the temporal.  

"Do not let your hearts be troubled" means that as we live this tension, we should lean to the side that keeps us connected to the eternal ...and in the hands of the Eternal. We should, as St Paul invites us during the Easter season, "seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father" (Colossians 1:3). How many causes for the troubles of soul are the result of losing our grip on this eternal tether? Or rather, how often do our troubles arise when we unconsciously loosen our grip on the eternal and grasp for the things - even perfectly legitimate things - that the more we grasp, the more we crave? Recognition, respect, affection and ... that honey trap of safety. "Put out into the deep" (Luke 5:4).

"Do not let your hearts be troubled". Do we even recognise when we are troubled or do we dress up our troubles as legitimate concerns, rightful attention, responsible solicitude? 

"Seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father." In that end is our very beginning.