Sailing, Takes Me Away
Dear Sutton and Savannah,
You know I like sailing. I’ve read books about sailing. I’ve taken classes on sailing. And I’ve worked on assembling sailboats. The knowledge and information is incredibly helpful. But I believe that the essence of sailing rests on these two questions: 1. Can you feel the wind? 2. Can you feel how the wind affects the boat and its sail? This is the core of sailing: a relationship between you, the wind and the boat. Pay attention to this, and everything else follows.
-Dad
Inside Out Lectionary Letters
Year A - 5th Sunday of Easter (Texts, Art, Hymns)
Readings for Sunday, May 3, 2026
Acts 7:55-60 / Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16 / 1 Peter 2:2-10 / John 14:1-14
Summary of John 14:1-14
This passage is part of a larger discourse of Jesus, given to the disciples in the hours leading up to his betrayal and death. Jesus is preparing them for a new era in their relationship to him. The disciples seem unsettled and confused.
Scripture as a Mirror of the Soul
One approach to the “inside-out” perspective is to ask what part of ourselves is represented by the disciple Thomas and what part is represented by Philip.
Thomas wants more information. This might be the part of us that believes if we know more we will have more control. Jesus’s response challenges that posture. Knowing and recognizing the divine voice is the path to life, not more information.
The Philip part of us wants verifiable proof; “show us the Father.” Jesus once again responds by inviting them into deeper relationship with himself. It seems to challenge the old adage, “Seeing is believing,” with the argument that “Believing is seeing.”
This week’s gospel reading, along with next week’s reading, contains an invigorating foundation for these Lectionary Letters. In many ways this passage forms the basis for the inward journey. In verses 2 and 3 Jesus states that he is preparing a dwelling place (some translations say mansions or rooms). The only other place in scripture this word is used is in verse 23. There we read that those who obey Jesus’s commands become the dwelling place or home of the divine! And Jesus’s command is simply this, love one another.
The inner journey is built upon the idea that the Advocate (verse 16), the Spirit of Truth (Verse 17), Jesus and the Father (verse 23) abide within. Therefore, the inner journey is the exploration of the relationships within. Everything else follows.