The people were adoring the
Temple in Jerusalem, remarking about its great beauty and precious stones.
Jesus shook them up: All that you see
here—the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone
that will not be thrown down.”(Lk: 21:5)
One of the things His statement
might invite us to consider is an integral part of life: the impermanence of
all things.
Whether it be good or bad,
always remind yourself that “This too shall pass.”
This can be a consolation in
times of suffering, and an important warning in times of prosperity and
well-being. All is impermanent. “The
heavens and the earth will pass away,” Jesus says (Matthew 24:35). Our little kingdoms
and mountains of stuff, even some of our most cherished relationships will not
endure forever. All shall pass. And so, in our lives, we get to do a great deal
of necessary grieving—grieving over things both great and small.
This is hard to consider,
perhaps, hard to contemplate. I’d bet that people were furious when Jesus spoke
about the downfall of the temple. And it is a sobering thought for us as well.
But in order to live spiritually, we have to regard all things as transient
until the end of days. We have to avoid clinging or getting overly detached
(yesterday’s theme) to anything that stands between us and our God.
Let me close with a personal
example: I had a light for the organ in the Abbey Church that I was very fond
of. It was well-made and well-designed. It was an elegant piece of equipment,
and it did a good job of illuminating any music I was trying to play. I’ve had
it for well over ten years, and it has been used in several different ways.
Well, yesterday, as I was closing up the organ, the light fell to the ground
and was shattered. “Well this is turning out to be a bad day.” But then I had
to go and find a replacement lamp, and it turned out that the lamp I found
actually does a better job than the lamp I had lost.
Sometimes, the apparent tragedy of
loss ends up leading to something new and better in our lives.
And that is how it will be at
the end of time, or at the end of our earthly days, whichever comes first.
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