Sitting at my desk here yesterday, I felt like it was about 7:30 in the evening all day. It was that overcast and grey.
It was not lost on me that the weather was an apt background for today’s readings from Ephesians and John, full of allusions to darkness and light, blindness and clear vision.
So yesterday felt a bit like a biblical scene: “A plague was visited on the people and gloom and darkness covered the land.” Honestly! But you know, there are numerous scenes like that throughout the Bible, yet here we are today, togeth-er—and not just virtually—worshiping God and giving thanks for the innumerable benefits we enjoy as God’s children.
So, yes, we do seem to be going through something the world has never gone through before. But that has less to do with the Coronavirus than with experiencing that virus with a capability for worldwide communication in full video and audio as we experience it. This technology can result in panic or a realization that, even as we socially distance ourselves we are somehow brought closer together, understanding better than ever before that we are all in this together, that we are all God’s children going through a common experience.
We can clearly see, to use that image from today’s gospel, which of those responses is intended for us Christians—for people of faith in general. We are one family in this world, in this cosmos, and we are called to extend God’s love to each other in every way we can. Our limitations are our own. God knows that there are possibilities beyond our usual dreams and imagination. We are children of the same and only God who created everything from nothing, created us in God’s image, imbued with that divine capacity for creativity.
In today’s gospel Jesus effects an unlikely treatment for the blind man—mud made from spit and dirt—to give him sight. Today, equally unlikely means are being employed by scientists and medical professionals all over the world—creating vaccines out of the very virus itself, testing treatments in laboratories everywhere—and that’s only a part of the current race for treatment and cure. Other parts are the prayers of every single one of us and all of us together for those who suffer from this disease, for those who have died from it, and for those who are working tirelessly to care for them and to research ways of putting an end to this pandemic.
But let us be clear: an important factor in all this for us who believe is our faith that ultimately every one and every thing is in the hands of a loving God who is right here with us—in our midst and in the heart of each of us—as we go through this moment in our history. That faith, God’s presence, is greater than illness or even death itself. In this season of Lent we prepare for the miracle of God’s triumph over death in Christ Jesus. That is true when we are more aware of our dependence on God as in this crisis, and it is true when everything seems to be rolling along to our liking. God’s love is constant and unfailing.
Jesus speaks to the Pharisees in today’s gospel about enlightenment, without using that particular word. He urges them to open their minds and hearts to the truth of God’s love and grace.
The English language provides us with a helpful play on words here. Enlightenment can be understood both as bringing us light and understanding and lightening our load, helping us to understand that we are not alone, that we are all in this together, and, most importantly, together with God. May your hearts may be made lighter by your faith in God’s grace and love, and may we be mindful of God’s love for us and our love for one another. + + +
It was not lost on me that the weather was an apt background for today’s readings from Ephesians and John, full of allusions to darkness and light, blindness and clear vision.
So yesterday felt a bit like a biblical scene: “A plague was visited on the people and gloom and darkness covered the land.” Honestly! But you know, there are numerous scenes like that throughout the Bible, yet here we are today, togeth-er—and not just virtually—worshiping God and giving thanks for the innumerable benefits we enjoy as God’s children.
So, yes, we do seem to be going through something the world has never gone through before. But that has less to do with the Coronavirus than with experiencing that virus with a capability for worldwide communication in full video and audio as we experience it. This technology can result in panic or a realization that, even as we socially distance ourselves we are somehow brought closer together, understanding better than ever before that we are all in this together, that we are all God’s children going through a common experience.
We can clearly see, to use that image from today’s gospel, which of those responses is intended for us Christians—for people of faith in general. We are one family in this world, in this cosmos, and we are called to extend God’s love to each other in every way we can. Our limitations are our own. God knows that there are possibilities beyond our usual dreams and imagination. We are children of the same and only God who created everything from nothing, created us in God’s image, imbued with that divine capacity for creativity.
In today’s gospel Jesus effects an unlikely treatment for the blind man—mud made from spit and dirt—to give him sight. Today, equally unlikely means are being employed by scientists and medical professionals all over the world—creating vaccines out of the very virus itself, testing treatments in laboratories everywhere—and that’s only a part of the current race for treatment and cure. Other parts are the prayers of every single one of us and all of us together for those who suffer from this disease, for those who have died from it, and for those who are working tirelessly to care for them and to research ways of putting an end to this pandemic.
But let us be clear: an important factor in all this for us who believe is our faith that ultimately every one and every thing is in the hands of a loving God who is right here with us—in our midst and in the heart of each of us—as we go through this moment in our history. That faith, God’s presence, is greater than illness or even death itself. In this season of Lent we prepare for the miracle of God’s triumph over death in Christ Jesus. That is true when we are more aware of our dependence on God as in this crisis, and it is true when everything seems to be rolling along to our liking. God’s love is constant and unfailing.
Jesus speaks to the Pharisees in today’s gospel about enlightenment, without using that particular word. He urges them to open their minds and hearts to the truth of God’s love and grace.
The English language provides us with a helpful play on words here. Enlightenment can be understood both as bringing us light and understanding and lightening our load, helping us to understand that we are not alone, that we are all in this together, and, most importantly, together with God. May your hearts may be made lighter by your faith in God’s grace and love, and may we be mindful of God’s love for us and our love for one another. + + +