Security

Late one evening, while Mom and Dad were having coffee in the kitchen, their five-year-old son Billy came downstairs. He couldn’t sleep. Something was upsetting him. The little boy seemed terribly worried. So he asked, “Mom and Dad, please do a slow dance while the radio plays softly.” Mom and Dad happily obliged. They turned on the kitchen radio and found a station playing a slow ballad. Dad took Mom into his arms, and Mom lovingly placed her head on Dad’s shoulders, and the couple danced to the soft melody. Little Billy’s face lit up with a big smile. “That’s perfect,” he said. Then he yawned, “Good night, Mom and Dad. I love you!” and up to his room he happily returned. Mom and Dad said, “Sweet dreams, Billy. We love you too.” And they continued to dance. Swaying to the music, Mom said, “He has funny ways of feeling secure.” Dad, lost in the romance of the moment, replied, “They work for me.”
Knowing that we are loved, that we are cared for, is indeed the ultimate security. Jesus’ appearance to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus reassured the community of disciples in every time and place that he truly remains in our midst always, as real as our burning Paschal candle, as comforting as the love of parents for their children, as certain as the coming of spring each year. Renewed by the joy of this Easter springtime, may we be for one another the reassuring and comforting love of Christ in every season of the year!