Human beings have a natural...
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Human beings have a natural hunger and need for companionship. Loneliness, feeling
that you are alone, is a natural enemy. Apparently, we were not meant to be solitary. So
we marry in order to have a lifelong mate. Students in college often seek the fraternal
bonds of a fraternity or sorority. Lodges are organized so that people can feel that they
"belong." Even in our religious life we rightly join together in the fellowship of worship
and of church membership. Sometimes there is betrayal of a trust. A companion turns
against us and it can be a heart-wrenching experience. But there is one who will never
betray our trust in him. That is the Christ who has said to his followers, "I will never
leave you nor forsake you." It is written of the apostles on the road to Emmaus that
"while they conversed together, and reasoned [about their faith] Christ drew near."
Including Christ in our daily discussions and reasoning is the way for Christ to become
real to us, and for his presence to be felt. Edna St. Vincent Millay, in one of her poems,
used the phrase, "only a Christ-distance away." That measurement denotes a very short
distance, indeed. "Practicing the presence of Christ," as the saying goes, can bring us the
same experience as that of the apostles on the road to Emmaus, as they said, "did not our
hearts burn within us" as Christ walked with them on their way.
