By Maria Sermersheim
Meditatione Ignis
Last year, when I was making my plans to go to France to study the language, I had not yet found anyone to accompany me, so I told my cousin that solo travel really lacked some luster for me. I’d never traveled far by myself to remain by myself, and I couldn’t imagine that it would be my favorite thing. I want to be able to share wonderful things with people I love, and to be driven entirely by my own plans and unable to fully share moments with others is not my idea of an ideal trip. Thanks be to God, he sent Katherine to me as a classmate and friend to go learn French with me shortly after that conversation with my cousin, and it was very good.
Now, as I sit again in Le Mans, France, this time just for a quick trip to visit the wonderful ladies who hosted Katherine and me last summer, but this time without Katherine, what I had guessed about myself previously has become abundantly clear. Even with Liliane, an indomitable older lady who teaches me so much French vocabulary and so much about the Lord, I feel slightly confused as to why I am here. My dear friend’s absence makes a big difference. Where is my companion with whom to share the stressful and silly and dull moments of this experience?
This example expands well to all of life, I think. It is a journey in a foreign land with some familiar faces, but it lacks some luster when we cannot share the experience with those we love. And yet, due to all the circumstances of life and death, we do often find ourselves alone. Only the Lord can be our constant companion, and he did promise that he is with us always (Matthew 28:20). However, as often as we find ourselves alone, we also forget that deep companionship of Christ, even if we know it intellectually. My present predicament has shown me that I need to remember Christ’s companionship more immediately. I need to inculcate a better habit of constant interior conversation with the Lord, not as a band-aid for my missing Katherine, but as a response to a truth I had forgotten. Because I did feel so lonely without my former travel buddy and friend, I realized I had forgotten how present Christ is to me. Because life is essentially solo travel but for the Lord’s constant presence, we should abide with him on every leg of the journey.