The most compelling stories are based on the most common themes. Love. Paradise. Adventure. Peril. Rescue and the triumph of good over evil. We are drawn to these stories because at some level they relate to our own experiences. We feel a connection because, in a way, they tell our own story. They reflect our own emotions, our own hopes, our own fears.
The Bible tells the story of the world from its creation through its recreation. Humanity fell from paradise to peril, and God immediately set into motion a plan for rescue and redemption. It would not happen all at once. The struggle would continue for generations and end with the crushing defeat of the serpent.
The theme of rescue is still compelling. Fanny Crosby, the most prolific writer of Christian hymns, wrote Rescue the Perishing. She related that the composer William Doane had suggested the theme to her. A few days later the theme was still on her mind when she spoke to a group of men and a young man answered the call to salvation. Crosby returned home that night unable to rest until she had prepared the words of the hymn. More than thirty years later she was speaking at a YMCA and told the story of the young man who had been rescued. At the end of the meeting one of the people in the congregation said he had been that young man, he had found peace that day years before, and he knew they would meet again in heaven.
Remember how God has rescued you as you read these words:
Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter,
feelings lie buried that grace can restore;
touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness,
chords that were broken will vibrate once more.
The journey to the foot of the cross is a story of rescue. Christ is our rescuer. Jesus is merciful. Jesus will save.
Follow the Path!
CARadke
[Use with Peace in Promise, day 12 of A Labyrinth Pilgrimage]