Psalms 137:1-6(7-9), 144 * 104; 1 Samuel 14:16-30; Acts 9:10-19a; Luke 23:32-43There are times in life when we may think that things will never get better, that we will never see the light of a bright and happy day again. All of our readings today show us that we can find hope, even in dark times.
In First Samuel, Jonathan's eyes brighten when he unknowingly defies his father by eating some fresh honey following a long and difficult battle with the Philistines. Our writer of Acts provides the terror of Ananias in being called upon to cure another Saul from blindness: both find light and beauty in the midst of their terror by living into doing God's work in the world. Jesus is on the cross in today's selection from Luke. Yet even there, when the light of his human life is about to go out, he cares for a criminal who has been crucified next to him.
The lives of none of the people in these stories turned out exactly the way they had planned, and yet they were still able to make a marked difference in the world. In those dark moments we all have in life, we need to rely on prayer and the gift of Christ-in-the-other to help us find light that can guide us to safety and security. A safety and security that most of us never even imagined could exist: yet it does.
jfd+
Copyright 2011, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.
Art: Night Sky, 2008, panels 1, 2, & 3. jfd+
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