SCRIPTURE: LUKE 2:33-35
And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
REFLECTION by the Rev. Mary Hudak
The innate caution and despair that resides in our being, consciously or unconsciously, when we realize that we will not live forever is intense. It is especially so when one of children dies. Yet, in the birth and resurrection of Jesus, we know that all life does go on only in a new way. Do we truly believe this? Do we live like we believe this? I try to live holding all things lightly so that when God comes to reclaim it, I am willing to let go. And often, that thing comes back into my life resurrected, made new, just like Jesus. Whether it is the sadness of digging out a garden that is done producing. Yet in the remains of the garden plants are small seeds that have the can be planted and with tending they will once more feed us.
When a person dies the soul within lives on; this I believe. The seeds left are the lessons we learned, the love that continues to grow, and the Spirit that swirls in our memories and thoughts. It never feels like enough but it is the promise: life eternal, life everlasting, life fully in communion with God. Mary must have had some intuition of this, how else could she have said yes?
PRAYER
Jesus, care for our inner thoughts tenderly and with compassion. Reveal to us what we have lost in ourselves so that we can be made whole. Amen.
BLESSING
May the Triune God bless all of you, for the whole you is made in the image of God. Amen.
