The Invitation

It felt like I was standing at the top of a cliff on a Northern California Coast. I could look into the distance and see a beautiful sea stretching out to meet the endless sky. Behind me were wildflowers along safe paths. Here I stood, contemplating my choice. I could go back to the familiar place I loved. Continuing to explore the paths on shore, I could spend a lifetime enjoying the view from here. Or I could accept the invitation I heard beckoning my soul.

My lover said to me, “Rise up, my darling!
Come away with me, my fair one!” (Song of Songs 2:10, NLT).

I heard the voice I had loved all my life calling to me. I had heard this voice before. I had promised to follow Him wherever He led. Yet this journey … exploring the depths of the Catholic Church ... more terrifying than any I had considered before. Was He really asking me to step off the edge of the cliff? What would happen if I did?

I took a step closer. I looked down. The water was dark, swirling around jagged rocks. I imagined the chill seeping into my flesh, my body smashed as the tide crashed against the cliff. As the sun sank into the blackened sea, my paralyzed body sank, lifeless, into the depths.

Trembling, I wondered. Was this vision true? Or would He, somehow, catch me as I fell?

I sat down, gazing at the gorgeous colors of the sunset reflecting on the surface of the water. I had loved Him all my life. I had longed to be ever closer to Him, hidden in the depths of His heart. Would I trust Him now, when He seemed to be asking me to step into the unknown? Would I ever be content again if I didn’t? Or would I always wonder what would have happened if I had taken that one, terrifying step?

Was this an invitation to an incredibly journey, or an insane plunge into the abyss?

I could hear the voices of some behind me, desperately calling,

“No, don’t go there! It’s dangerous, and you might lose your way! Please, we love you! Don’t leave this safe place where we are!”

I loved them. I had no desire to leave them. Yet, increasingly, I could not ignore this insistent voice.

“Will you trust Me no matter what? No matter where? No matter when? Are you truly mine? Or are you theirs first? Will you trust Me, even with them? Even with their fears and doubts, in addition to your own?”

(Continued here.)