Life has been a little hectic for me these past months. I can't believe it's been 3 months since I posted on this blog, but I think that many of you who take the time to read it understand the 'hectic' issue.
Because of the planning that is needed in my job, I am caught between the rich gift of Advent contemplation (to come) and the craziness of End Times pentecost (the present). My life feels much that way as well.
I long for the quiet of an evening with candles burning and no one, absolutely no one, expecting my attention. Time for reading a book, sorting through the papers that seem to multiply on my desk, cooking up some soup or baking some cookies. Time that isn't crammed full.
The truth, however, is that life looks much more like the End Times that we are hearing so much about in the lessons these weeks. Jesus points us to a time of accountability - and with it there are pictures of skies ripping in two and fire coming down from heaven and well, general chaos. For two more weeks we will be hearing about this time when Jesus comes again - in glory and in judgment, and 'what we have known' will be no more.
I think we have 3 general responses to these scriptures. #1 we ignore them (because they are fantasy, or ridiculous or impossible) #2 we are frightened of them (because we don't measure up, because we don't know what Jesus/God expects of us, because we have read too many Tim LaHaye novels) #3 we get smug (because we are the chosen, the experts, and all those others are going to get theirs).
Here is another possibility. What if, in order to get to that place of quiet contemplation, of pleasures for all the senses and a sense of well-being or shalom.....that we will need to go through the end times first. First the chaos, turning upside down all that we know and then the glory ......giving us a new life in Christ.
What if this turning upside down chaos was not just ONE moment in time, but a whole series of moments, calling us again and again to true life and light in Jesus? What if the End Times were a portion of every time - which, of course, implies that Living in the Glorious Light of Jesus Christ can be a portion of every time as well.
May God help us find our way through the chaos and into the light. AMEN
AMEN!
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