IT TAKES MORE THAN ONE ‘YES’

DAY 141 OF 365 OF 2021

John 21:17 He asked him a third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was deeply hurt that he had asked him a third time, "Do you love me?" So he told him, "Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you!" Jesus told him, "Feed my sheep.

When one works in an acute environment where the clinical picture is indicative of a decline in cognition, it is easy to hear and provide answers to the very same question multiple times during the day and at some point, one might become frustrated giving the very same answer that many times.

This was the picture of Peter when Jesus asked him three times ‘Do you love me?’ Peter thought Jesus ought to know by now and he needed not to repeat himself on that many occasions but Jesus seemed oblivious to his predicament.

While these three re-affirmations by Peter was aimed at writing off the three times he had betrayed Jesus, there was something more going on. There was a lesson Jesus sought to bring to his recognition, and this was it:

‘The way of love involves and requires more than saying YES once, not even three times. It involves a daily dying to self and intentionally choosing to embrace the cross. It involves being conscious always of the what the journey demands and being willing to choose to pay this price nonetheless.

Peter had only been asked to affirm his resolve three times and he thought that was too much. Our reaffirmation will be required not just three times, but at every point on our walk and venting our frustration at that will not take this away. We will have to respond each single time.

#sly