Drowning in the shallows

John 6:60-66 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

I think to have the privilege of aging is one of God’s most gracious blessings. Once you’re playing in the second half of life, your engagement with its meaning becomes so much more profound. So you’ve spent all this time doing things, learning things, chasing things and now? Wherein the meaning of it all? A secular author, Andrew Delbanco wrote: The heart of any culture is its hope. Hope is the way we overcome the lurking suspicion that all our getting and spending amounts to fidgeting while we wait for death. We must imagine some end of life that transcends our own tiny allotment of days and hours if we are to keep at bay the dim back of mind suspicion that we are adrift in an absurd world. I could not have said it better. If we live in the depths of a relationship with Christ through the Holy Spirit, even the suffering of the material world becomes bearable and meaningful. No, no one desires suffering, but in the shallow two-dimensional, sin-ridden world of time and success, it will be served up constantly. Our comfort and our victory over it, comes from the arms of Christ – the same arms nailed to the cross, now carrying me into the deep. And it is just as accessible to the young person as to the old.

Love to all

DC