Companion God

A COMPANION GOD

I love the City of Liverpool. I worked there as a curate in an inner city parish in 1965-9. I went back to work there two years later as chaplain to seafarers in the port of Liverpool, when I lived in a penthouse at Pier Head with wonderful views of the River Mersey. My late wife came from Liverpool, and Joyce, my present wife, also comes from Liverpool.

As regards religion in Liverpool, you are either anti Catholic or anti Protestant, and as regards football, you are either a Liverpool or Everton supporter. As Ian Paisley once said: ‘Football is more important than life or death!’

At the risk of revealing which team I support, I can only say that I love the 'national anthem', "You'll never walk alone":

'When you walk through a storm

hold your head up high

and don't be afraid of the dark.

At the end of the storm

Is a golden sky

With the sweet silver song of the lark.

Walk on through the wind.

Walk on through the rain,

Though your dream be tossed and blown.

Walk on, walk on,

With hope in your heart

And you'll never walk alone.

You'll never walk alone.'

Whenever I hear that song, I recall scenes of Liverpool football supporters waving their red and white scarves above their heads, to encourage the eleven players on the pitch, particularly if their spirits are down, their hopes are fading, and they appear to be losing the game.

I want to suggest that those words of that song contain a deep theological truth, because as Christians, we also believe that we never walk alone through life, because the Risen Presence of Christ, now no longer limited by time and space, is always with us.

However, like the two on the Emmaus Road, we too are often so caught up in our own small world, that we do not see Him, let alone acknowledge his presence.

As you will recall, those two disciples had gone up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. Whilst there, they had become caught up with the events concerning the welcome and subsequent crucifixion of Jesus.

Now they were on their way home, disappointed and confused.

Disappointed, because Jesus had not come up to their expectation. To quote their own words: 'Our hope had been that he would set Israel free’. In other words, they had seen Jesus as a political figure who would free the Jewish nation from the Roman occupying force.

Confused, because, whilst they had thought that he was dead, others had said that he was alive. To quote their own words, once again: 'Some women from our group have astounded us; they went to the tomb in the early morning; and when they did not find the body, they came back to tell us that they had seen a vision of angels who declared that he was alive.'

Little wonder then, that in their disappointment and confusion, with their hopes dashed and faith shattered, they did not recognize the stranger who joined them on their walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus.

Like them, when we are often disappointed and confused in life, we too often fail to recognize the presence of the Risen Christ accompanying us along life's journey.

It is all too easy to allow our everyday worries and concerns to blind us to the Risen Presence of Christ. We become so caught up in our little world that we cannot see beyond our noses.

Yet, whilst we may forsake Christ, he never forsakes us or forgets us.

Sadly, it is often only when we look back after some personal crisis or upheaval in our lives that we become aware that He has been there all the time, but that our anxiety at the time had blinded us to his presence.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is not something that happened two thousand years ago. It is a living experience in the lives of those who have eyes to see.

So, when trouble comes your way, let those words of the Liverpool football anthem encourage you on your way:

'Walk on, walk on,

With hope in your heart,

[for] you'll never walk alone,

you'll never walk alone.'' Amen.