Purpose, Direction and the Resurrection
Each day, staring from my bus window, I see a mass of headless, armless men made of bronze as I ride to work.
The men are part of a public art installation in Chicago’s Grant Park, hard to miss because of their giant height and bulk. Each figure has a foot moving forward, suggesting action and direction. Yet when I look closer, I realize they are lost. It’s a mass of confusion – everyone wandering in different ways, some bunched up, others running into one another, and a few who just stand in place, clueless. None seems to know where to go.
That mass of wandering, confused humanity symbolizes what it means to lack the direction and purpose that Jesus Christ alone provides.
Jesus’ death and resurrection earned every believer in Him freedom, not only from our sins, but from the aimlessness, chaos and angst that often surround us. With Christ comes purpose and direction – to love and be loved by Him, to serve Him, and to follow Him.
Jesus’ resurrection gives us the power to choose. In Him, we can choose to be the overcomers He says that we are. In Him, we can choose to realize the fullness of purpose, power and joy in our lives, since He came so that we might have life and have it more abundantly.
Among the headless metal men one is different. He stands at the northern edge of the group, ahead of the others. His position suggests that he might know the way out and have the courage to pursue it. His example offers hope.
With Christ, hope is real and eternal, not a stab in the dark. His resurrection regally reveals Him as the long-awaited Hope, the Light of the World, the Truth. He stands, waiting for our invitation to let Him lead us, daily. There is amazing comfort in knowing that the One Who Loves You has a direction and plan for your life that has been solely designed for you, to accomplish your best and to magnify His glory. I thank Him that he knows the way for us to go, always.
by Ann Pinkney
