Hi everyone,
So this is a day late, I know, and some of you might know why. I celebrated a birthday yesterday so I didn’t have time to finish this off as there was a surprise lunch for me at home (I’m usually on my own on Sundays). We played some board games until dinner time when we had one of my favourite foods: fried chicken.
And that’s when the birthday really hit me.
Well, not at the beginning of the meal, but after like 3 pieces and I realised that I was too full to have anymore. Back in my heyday I was able to polish off 5 or 6 pieces without breaking a sweat, and now sitting at three I felt like I was about to give up chicken forever.
We couldn’t have that so I proceeded to have another drum just to prove to myself that I could do it. I did it… but I paid for it this morning… (TMI?)
Growing old is hard. Especially when your guilty pleasures include unhealthy foods.
Here are the readings for next week:
2 Kings 2:1-12
Psalm 50:1-6
2 Corinthians 4:3-6
Mark 9:2-9
So while Elijah, Elisha, Jesus, and the disciples weren’t celebrating a birthday (not that we know of, at least), they were going through a transition. A transition in relationship, mentorship, and view of everything that they’ve known to this point. It was a change that would stay with them forever.
But they didn’t want the change. They didn’t welcome the transition. They wanted to keep things the way they were because that’s what they knew and what they were comfortable with. Elisha wanted Elijah’s spirit, Simon Peter wanted to keep Jesus in a hut. It’s like they wanted to preserve what they had so they didn’t have to face the world differently.
The thing is, transitions are inevitable. The world changes all the time so it’s pretty clear that we’ll have to change as well. Life doesn’t wait for us to be ready. But that doesn’t make life bad. Even in the transitions and changes, God continues to be good and grants us good things. Even when we are uncomfortable and wish things would go back to how they were, God strengthens us and empowers us to move forward.
And through it all, we are blessed. Blessed with hope, blessed with God’s love, blessed with the Spirit that brings us all together.
And that is something that will never change.
Thanks be to God! Have a great week, everyone!
Photo by Shardar Tarikul Islam on Unsplash