Because I Know Him

“I am the way and the truth and the life.” // John 14:6

Holding her friend’s hand, my kindergartner ran up to me at school pick-up. The two girls smiled confidently as my little girl handed me the map her friend had drawn. A purple “Start Here” dot was connected to a stick figure standing in front of a house by a thick line that curved and swirled across the page.

“We are going to have a playdate,” she said. “Betty drew a map to her house so you can drive me there. Now.” I studied the many purple curves and turns and explained that I couldn’t read the map. The little girls looked at me scornfully, and my daughter replied, “Just use your phone then.”

If only it were that easy. Don’t know how to get somewhere? Just use Google Maps. Don’t understand the written recipe? Watch a YouTube tutorial! Need relationship advice? Search for a podcast! If only all of life were that easy.

We can take in information, but that doesn’t mean we have learned anything. To really know takes experience, living with or through or in something. For example, when I was a teen a woman shared her testimony and explained that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. It was exceptionally comforting to her, but it left me feeling a bit blank. Even though I was a believing cradle Catholic, I did not have an intimate or meaningful relationship with Jesus. Jesus as the Way was like the magic marker map drawn by five-year-old Betty. I had no idea how to make sense of it, and just taking in the fact was not enough.

But through the next thirty years, with prayer, reading Scripture, studying my Faith, and reception of the Sacraments I have come to know the Lord. As a priest once said, “We are not following a path but a Person.” Because I know Him, I don’t need the map now. As long as I’m following the Way, I know where I’m going.

How have you experienced and come to know the Lord? How is He the Way, Truth, and Life in your life?