How close?

We have two cats, one that continually wants attention; no, she demands it. The other, Max, is the quiet one. He rarely meows and is quite independent. Oh, he’s also OCD. Or, as I like to say, CDO, since the letters should be in order.

Anyway, Max still needs attention but in his OCD way. Every morning, when I’m at my computer, he jumps up on my desk and stretches out between my keyboard and monitor to be petted and scratched. This time seems to be very important to him — the whole time he has his motor rumbling.

That got me thinking about the disciple which Jesus loved. We find this recorded during our Lord’s Last Supper.

John 13:21-25, After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.” His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.” Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”

I’m sure we each have our favorite Apostle. Rabbit trail – my understanding is that the twelve disciples became apostles after they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit as recorded in Acts, chapter 2. They changed from students to graduates that were sent out.)

As I was saying, we each have our favorite Apostle; mine is John for myriad reasons. Perhaps the most significant reason is that John stayed as close to Jesus as he possibly could. No doubt, during the event recorded in John 13:21-25, John could feel the heartbeat of Jesus as he leaned back upon Him to ask the question.

That’s what I want. I want to be so close to Jesus that I feel His heartbeat. I’ve learned that if I wander too far away, Christ’s heartbeat is obfuscated by the noise and chaos of this world and I begin to be sucked into its mire.

No, for me, my safe place is where I can feel the heartbeat of Jesus. And, someday, when we embrace, face-to-face, that rhythm of His heart will not be a new or unknown experience but a remembrance of what We have shared for many years.