Wait For It…

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children of God, church, Gospel of Thomas, Luke, Pope Francis, Romans, something is happening, spirituality, St. Augustine, St. Paul, suffering, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Merton

In conversations lately about spirituality or Church, I have often heard – and occasionally said myself, “It feels like something is happening…” That’s a rather bland statement that is generally followed, however, by examples of an energy that cannot be easily explained but is felt as a growing thing – where people are gathering to discuss the newly recognized convergences of science and spirituality or a discovery of something Thomas Merton said 50 years ago that now makes sense or an exploration of the Gospel of Thomas…It is the same hopeful sense that St. Augustine had almost 2,000 years ago, that God is closer to us than we are to ourselves. Wanting to participate in that nearness of God is likely what drew millions of people to the streets to see Pope Francis pass by in Washington, DC and New York City and Philadelphia. It touched people in the Congress, the United Nations Assembly and the families chosen to represent us in Philadelphia. It brought tears to the eyes of people watching those events on television as surely as if the Pope were in their living rooms. Clearly we want more of God in our lives and in our world.

This is the same arising that I think Paul knew when he said to the Romans and to us this morning,  “I consider the sufferings of the present time are as nothing compared to the glory to be revealed for us. For creation waits with eager expectation for the revelation of the children of God.” (ROM 8:18-25) I am disappointed in that text which used to say that “all of creation stands on tiptoe to see the children of God coming into their own.” Jesus knew it could happen – this bursting forth of the Kingdom of God in the world – when he compared it to a mustard seed or yeast, small and imperceptible at first but in the end the largest of all the trees or the impetus for the dough to rise to full capacity. (LK 13:18-21) Where are we now? How close to the revelation of God in our time? What are we doing to “bring it on?” Have we forgotten how to be so eager as to stand on tiptoe to see it revealed?

From Image to Likeness

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actuality of God, children of God, divine, God, image, John, love, motivation, profound, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

The three letters of John in the Christian Scriptures are brief and to the point, with only the first of the three taking up more than one page. John’s writings are noted for eloquence and the preponderance of the theme of love – God’s love for us and our love for others. The first reading from this morning’s lectionary texts (1 John, ch. 2) is a simple yet profound declaration of what is true in the present and what we can hope for in the future. See what love the Father has bestowed on us, he says, that we may be called children of God. Yet so we are.

As if that’s not enough encouragement there’s a follow-up to this recognition of our present identity, beginning with the repetition in case we missed it that we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is.

I’m often amazed these days when I pull out sections of Bible texts for reflections that, although I’ve been reading these same words for years, they strike such a chord in me that I wonder why I’m not thrown into speechlessness by their profundity. Today I am stopped in my tracks by the wonder of being an offspring of the divine, made in the image of God and, hopefully, growing into God’s likeness.  And then there is the possibility, the probability, the promise that I will be able to actually see God as God is – not just in holy people or nature or anything else I can now see – but in the actuality of God. I can’t even imagine what that means and yet it is what gets me up in the morning and motivates all the good that I attempt during the day. Why wouldn’t I want to see and be like God?

Saints in the Making

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All Saints Day, beatitudes, children of God, John, John the Evangelist, Matthew, psalm 24, saints, St. Paul, The Sermon on the Mount, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today, after a night of “trick-or-treat” where even animals were dressed in costume as someone other than themselves (See the NBC Evening News, 10/31), we celebrate the saints. St. Paul used to call those he encountered on his travels “saints” to impress on them, perhaps, what John the Evangelist meant when he wrote, “See what love God has bestowed on us that we may be called children of God. Yes, we are God’s children now…What we shall be later has not yet been revealed…when it is revealed we shall be like God…(1 JN 3:1-3). This all presupposes an understanding of the process of becoming mature, fully human persons – not perfect at the outset, but by the time we meet God, ready and able to look into God’s eyes and see ourselves as God sees us because we have done our best to become whole/holy. Psalm 24:6, the refrain for this morning, sings repeatedly, “This is the people that longs to see your face…” It seems to me that this is a good expression of the impetus for living life in the best way we can, which is, I believe, all that God asks.

It is true that history focuses on the “great saints” – many of whom have led lives of luxury or debauchery until some cataclysmic event or deep suffering has caused their conversion. Happily, today we are able to point as well to those whose steadiness and goodness all their lives have given us such example that we – if not in an official way – recognize them as saints. The Sermon on the Mount (MT 5:1-12) gives us this morning a “guidebook” of practices that lead to the fullness of life that we call sainthood. Jesus calls “Blessed” those who are poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek and merciful, the clean of heart, the peacemakers, those who hunger and thirst and/or are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.

Perhaps today is a day to reflect on what Jesus set out for us as a starter kit to saintliness, seeking in our lives examples of the “categories” listed above. And remember: God is on our side as we seek; “we are already God’s children!” And then we might look around – with God’s eyes – for other “saints in the making” and spend this day as a feast of gratitude. Happy All Saints Day!