Psalms 72 * 119:73-96; Genesis 22:1-18; Hebrews 11:23-31; John 6:52-59Time is so changeable. At moments in life, time can seem to not exist at all, events flying by in the seeming blink of an eye. At other moments in life, the same amount of time that blew right past us seems to be an eternity for us to slog through. But when we get to the other side of that slog, and time becomes more "normal," the excruciating nature of what has just transpired can fade. And there are times when we seem to be in both places, the too quick passage of time, and simultaneously the feeling that we will never get to the other side.
So much of that impression of time, our experience of time, is amorphous and based on the things that are going on in our lives. Jesus is immersed in a conversation with those who are trying to figure him out, and he says in today's Gospel from John, But the one who eats this bread will live forever. Well, forever is a long time. What does this mean?
One of the things Jesus is getting at today is that by incorporating Jesus into our very being, by becoming, as much as we possibly can, to be like Jesus, we become the living Body of Christ in the world today. We become part of that centuries old line of souls doing our utmost to make the world morph and change and pay attention to those things to which Jesus directs us: caring for the poor, the sick, the incarcerated, the lost, the frightened, the mournful. And by doing those things, living life in that way, we become a part of something that lives forever.
A radically different way to think about time, its passage, and our own short time in which to live that way.
jfd+
Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.
Photo: Blessing Matt & Brett's Wedding, 2009.
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