It’s that time of year when every member of the Cross Point Emmaus Community should give serious consideration to sponsorship. Whom are you going to sponsor on the Walk to Emmaus?
I love those commercials — I think they’re beer commercials — where it gives people’s response as “too light” and “too heavy.” Well, I believe our response to sponsoring a pilgrim can be too light or too heavy. Too light is to not make a list and pray about who you should sponsor. Too light is to not invite persons to go. Too heavy is to nag or scold or badger them into going. Too heavy is to tell them that they “need” to go for their own spiritual welfare or for their wives’ benefit. Even though it’s not wrong for wives to say, “Honey, I would really like to do this.”
I read an excerpt recently from Nikos Kazantzakis’ Zorba the Greek that reminded me of our response to sponsorship.
“I remembered one morning when I discovered a cocoon in the bark of a tree, just as the butterfly was making a hole in its case and preparing to come out, I waited a while, but it was too long in appearing and I was impatient. I bent over it and breathed on it to warm it. I warmed it as quickly as I could and the miracle began to happen before my eyes, faster than life. The case opened, the butterfly started slowly crawling out and I shall never forget my horror when I saw how its wings were folded back and crumpled; the wretched butterfly tried with its whole trembling body to unfold them.”
“Bending over it, I tried to help it with my breath. In vain, it needed to be hatched out patiently and the unfolding of its wings should be a gradual process in the sun. Now it was too late. My breath had forced the butterfly to appear, all crumpled, before its time. It struggled desperately and, a few seconds later, died in the palm of my hand.”
“That little body is, I do believe, the greatest weight I have on my conscience. For I realize today that it is a moral sin to violate the great laws of nature. We should not hurry, we should not be impatient, but we should confidently obey the eternal rhythm. I sat on a rock to absorb…this thought. Ah, if only that little butterfly could always flutter before me to show me the way.”
Make a list! Pray! Invite! And then patiently wait for the cocoon to open. If the cocoon does not open, look for evidences that the cocoon is beginning to open! Share your encouragement! Share your testimony! Continue to pray! And then when the time is ripe, invite again! There’s no time limit in waiting. God may use some vehicle, other than the Walk to Emmaus, to bring spiritual life and vitality to a person you care a great deal about. And all because of your prayers and encouragement.
Men’s Walk #77 is April 15-18; Women’s Walk #78 is April 22-25. Sponsor forms are available at www.crosspointemmaus.org.
De Colores,
Dan Patman
Cross Point Walk to Emmaus #1
Table of Mark
