Searching for Life

 

The apostle Paul, when he was Overcome by Light,
    heard a Voice - and the infinite distance between
    God's eternity and man's passing earthly world was bridged.
With the Voice came Paul's response  - Paul questioned,
    with a question wrenched from the depths of his being.
It was Paul's first question,
    and he spent the rest of his life learning the answer.

Paul's first word in response to God's divine intervention was "Who art Thou Lord?"
The recognition of the One Who came in Light was instantaneous -
    here is One greater than all that Paul ever experienced,
        here is One Whose title must be Lord.
Paul saw that all his learning and tradition must be laid down,
    and he saw that he must learn everything anew at the feet of  the Lord of all.
    
Now all Paul's aim is to discover who is this Lord?

Paul's life depended on his finding the answer to this question.
The "Who" that fell from Paul's lips that day on the road to Damascus
    was a cry of longing that was to be with him everyday for the rest of his life.
The "Who" was the substance and the meaning behind the encounter.
    the greatness of the dimension behind it all.
        the meaning which would make sense of it all.
Upon hearing the answer, "I am Jesus"
    Paul was overcome and trembled, "astounded."

The One speaking to Paul is the "Who" who overshadows all our days,
    and all our ways.
If anything at all in life is to have real meaning,
    we must find the One who is behind all of life.
Man has a tendency to gather the fragments of earthly existence and try to make sense of it all,
    to try to interpret existence as life.
Life is beyond all our knowledge and beyond all our experience.
    Life is a gift, and we need to know the Giver if we are to know life.

Paul's life was an ever unfolding vision of the One who met him on the road to Damascus.
    Down through the years, and the endless miles of his journeys,
        Paul pursued, and found, an ever greater and clearer vision of the One who gave him life.
At times Paul seems at a loss for words as he tries to express what he has found.
    He piles adjective upon adjective to try to encompass the infinite greatness,
        the infinite richness of the life which has been given to him,
            and the measureless nature of the One who gave that life.
           
    Paul counted all things but loss for the excellency of the One Who met him on the road.
        May we see the same vision and make the same commitment.