A Sunday Morning Thought to Start the Week Off
Easter ends today, the Octave of Easter being considered in some mysterious sense one day: Easter. Holy Mother Church provides this mystery of one day in eight days so that we can bathe in the glory of Our Lord's Resurrection in a special way. These are especially grace-filled days.
While my work week was quite full and more intense than usual, I did manage to keep the Resurrection in the front and center of my mind and heart - or rather by the grace of God I managed. Work is important, but it's not the most important thing.
We were out to dinner with friends last night. Their home was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy and it seems rebuilding won't be finished until, perhaps, July - almost nine months after the storm! The insurance companies involved are trying to wear these people down to accept low estimates that will not allow them to sufficiently repair the gross damages to their home. Many of their neighbors in their devastated neighborhood face the same problem.
This was the first time we've been able to get together with these dear friends since the hurricane for various reasons, although we've kept in touch by phone and e-mail. But last night we listened to a blow-by-blow description of the night of the storm, why they decided to stay in their home near the ocean rather than evacuate, how they responded to flood waters pouring not only into their basement but almost three feet high on their first floor. As the story unfolded, you couldn't help but think that by the grace of God they are still with us.
Waking up this morning, my thoughts turned to the Four Last Things: Death, Judgement, Heaven, Hell, most especially the first of the four. Once upon a time, we were encouraged to meditate on these four from time to time. For some reason, you don't get much encouragement to do so these days, but our friends story reminded me of the wisdom of this traditional practice. Death awaits us all and we don't do ourselves any favor by ignoring this.
I hope this reminder stick with me as I begin my work week tomorrow. By the grace of God, we will remember this. And I hope I don't allow my work to so consume my time, my thoughts, my energy, that really important things - like the Four Last things - take a back seat to the urgency of the moment that so often drive us through a work day. For this, as in so much else, I rely on God's grace.
While my work week was quite full and more intense than usual, I did manage to keep the Resurrection in the front and center of my mind and heart - or rather by the grace of God I managed. Work is important, but it's not the most important thing.
We were out to dinner with friends last night. Their home was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy and it seems rebuilding won't be finished until, perhaps, July - almost nine months after the storm! The insurance companies involved are trying to wear these people down to accept low estimates that will not allow them to sufficiently repair the gross damages to their home. Many of their neighbors in their devastated neighborhood face the same problem.
This was the first time we've been able to get together with these dear friends since the hurricane for various reasons, although we've kept in touch by phone and e-mail. But last night we listened to a blow-by-blow description of the night of the storm, why they decided to stay in their home near the ocean rather than evacuate, how they responded to flood waters pouring not only into their basement but almost three feet high on their first floor. As the story unfolded, you couldn't help but think that by the grace of God they are still with us.
Waking up this morning, my thoughts turned to the Four Last Things: Death, Judgement, Heaven, Hell, most especially the first of the four. Once upon a time, we were encouraged to meditate on these four from time to time. For some reason, you don't get much encouragement to do so these days, but our friends story reminded me of the wisdom of this traditional practice. Death awaits us all and we don't do ourselves any favor by ignoring this.
I hope this reminder stick with me as I begin my work week tomorrow. By the grace of God, we will remember this. And I hope I don't allow my work to so consume my time, my thoughts, my energy, that really important things - like the Four Last things - take a back seat to the urgency of the moment that so often drive us through a work day. For this, as in so much else, I rely on God's grace.
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