What is the longest distance you have ever walked?

And what did you carry with you?

In a couple of months, I am going to go on a very long walk with a bunch of friends to a place called Santiago de Compostela. The entire trail that we will be walking is over 60 miles long and it’s going to take us several days to finish. We are going to walk through quiet forests and busy towns, some days will be sunny and others might be raining, and we are going to carry everything we need in our backpacks. 

I’d like to tell you a story about two people who once upon a time walked on that very same road that I am going on in a few months.

One of them was named Saul and another was named Paula. Saul put a bunch of snacks, an umbrella, bug spray, and a first aid kit into his backpack. Paula packed the exact same things in hers.

After they were walking for a while, some of the people with Saul and Paula got hungry but none of them brought any snacks. Saul did not share because he wanted to keep all of his snacks for himself. Paula shared all of her snacks with everyone else.

A few days later, it started to rain. Saul took out his umbrella and used it for himself. Paula told everyone to get really close together so that they could get under her umbrella with her.

Another day, when it was super hot outside and they were walking through a forest, there were a lot of mosquitos out and they were biting everyone. Saul used his bug spray on himself, saving the rest in case he needed it later. Paula gave all of hers to everyone else.

And finally, when some people got blisters on their feet, Saul never shared his first aid kit but Paula always gave out her band aids to anyone who needed them.

By the end of the trip, when they got close to Santiago, Saul almost didn’t make it because his backpack was still completely full and it was way too heavy to carry. Paula’s was much, much lighter and easier to carry because she gave away everything that she was carrying with her.

Saul only cared about himself. 

Paula cared about others.

Saul was self-ish.

Paula was self-less.

In today’s Gospel story, Jesus is praying for his friends and family members. He is thinking about them and what they will need. He is acting a lot more like Paula than Saul. Jesus is selfless.

You see, Jesus cared about all of them… and he cares about all of us too. He wants to make sure that we are going to be ok.

But also, he is asking us to help take care of others too. He is asking you and me to be selfless too.

In today’s Gospel story, Jesus is praying for his friends and family members. 

To the children… who would you like pray for? 

And to the adults… I hope you’re catching the metaphorical relevance of this story… as we all are carrying backpacks full of our “stuff” throughout our lives. Stuff can mean different things to different people but toward the end of our respective hikes, some of our backpacks are still going to be quite full and that will result in a heavy load to bear. Perhaps too heavy.

What might you and I do… to lighten our loads?