In Case of Accident or Anxiety

Jesus said: As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. John 15:9

Paul Harvey told a story about a man named Carl who was driving to work one morning when he bumped fenders with another motorist. Both cars stopped, and the woman driving the other car got out to survey the damage. She was distraught. It was her fault, she admitted, and hers was a new car less than two days old from the showroom floor.

She was dreading facing her husband. Carl was sympathetic but felt he had to pursue the exchange of license and registration data. She reached into her glove compartment to retrieve the documents which were in an envelope. On the first paper, written in her husband's distinctive handwriting were these words: In case of accident remember, honey, it's you I love, not the car.

In the midst of anxiety we too can forget about love. You do your best to get the task before you accomplished as well as possible and you work hard while knowing that you're going to be so glad when it is complete. When something goes wrong along the way it can feel like everything is wrecked, yet only a portion of the whole needs your focused attention to mend it and make it right again. It is at a time like this that there in the glove compartment of John's gospel, chapter 15, waiting for you are words spoken from the heart of Jesus: kid, it's you I love, always.