The disappearance

...Then there is the disappearance. Yet in the disappearance the disciples still know him fully with them. They now know a fuller meaning that the Christ travels with them in hope even in his absence. That though Christ is at God’s right hand, God’s right hand is with them.

          Arguably this is something that, if acknowledged, could transform our society into a more just and compassionate one. John Taylor has said ‘I believe, there is nothing more needed by humanity today ... than the recovery of a sense of beyond-ness in the whole of life to revive the springs of wonder and adoration.’

                 It is for us to treasure these encounters, but do not hoard them. We are very inclined to want to control God, to make God appear, as we want when we want. To feel the presence of God as and when we wish. But it seems that the nature of God is to be spontaneous. I know for myself that in the times of deepest despair is not necessarily when God breaks in. For me they can be the greatest times of the absence of God, though I long for it. If there is anything to be learned it is that it is just not possible to pin God down. Be grateful that you have been touched by the living God, and be open to the possibility of further encounters.

          Cs Lewis said that we have, ‘so to speak, a root in the Absolute, which is the utter reality. ... these experiences ... were the pointer to something outer and other. This is what the disciples were left with when Jesus left them. they were left with a profound sense of the fact that they had a root in the absolute. They knew that their lives had ultimate meaning, and therefore even in the absence of the Christ, they could go on in faith.

We also, are called to go on in faith, in all our faith or doubt, we are called to be sensitive to the times when our hearts burn within us and the transforming power of Christ in those times to give us strength to go into the future with hope.