Readings for Today. Listen to our other podcasts.
The readings today come from the 6th Thursday of Easter.
Sometimes the stories in the bible, especially the gospels, are so familiar that we lose the sense of wonder about them.
Don't Lose Wonder
We've probably all had the experience of seeing either babies or very, very young children. And if we're careful and pay attention, we notice that they get terribly excited over things that we long ago decided were ordinary. Because we got so used to them, we didn't notice them with the same sense of awe and wonder.
It's why, for instance, a child can watch the same silly TV show over and over and over again. Because in some ways, the TV show is new all over again. I was listening to a podcast that was talking about babies when they knock things off their high chair. They're little scientists.
They knock something off and want to figure out what happens. Oh, it falls on the floor. And then they want to see if it happens again and again and again. Then at some level, they learn that it's kind of annoying and fun, so they keep doing it.
Think of the way a very young child thinks of a dandelion. We tend to think of dandelions as weeds. And for some good reason, because they ultimately take over your lawn if you don't get rid of them. But for a little child, dandelions are pretty yellow flowers. I can certainly attest, growing up in Vermont, you'd see whole fields of dandelions.
And they were gorgeous when they were in bloom. And they're tasty. Before they go in bloom, I remember as a child, my parents would bring me out and we'd be digging up the dandelion greens for various things.
When things become ordinary, they can lose their importance for us. And so we might, quite frankly, not fully appreciate the challenge of the ascension. Today, Jesus has this kind of cryptic phase, "A little while, you will no longer see me, and a little while, and you will see me." And we see that the disciples are thoroughly confused by what Jesus could mean.
It would seem, on a human level, that it makes all the sense in the world for Jesus to remain on earth forever. I suspect at one time or another, we have all had the desire to have lived when Jesus lived so we could have seen him and talked with him and interacted with him.
But this life is not really the ultimate focus for us as Christians. It's not to say that we don't try to do our best in this life and enjoy the good things of this life, but it's not the end. Heaven is the end.
And that is what Jesus does in the ascension. By going to the Father, he and the Father then pour out for us the Holy Spirit.
Let us ask the Lord today to help us to recapture the wonder of our faith, that the miraculous events that are so ordinary to us because we've heard them so often might cause our hearts yet again to be filled with wonder.
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