[Today is the Sunday before Passover and Easter. Here’s the last chapter of my forthcoming book: Putting the Bible in Its Place. Off the Pedestal. Out of the Trash Can. Back on the Table.]
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Is Jesus coming back?
No. No more than Elijah’s coming back. (Or Elvis.)
Yet Jewish people keep setting an empty chair at the Passover Seder meal for Elijah. Just in case. But it’s been 3,000 years, and still no Elijah.
The gospels present Jesus in the guise of Elijah. Like Elijah, Jesus fed the hungry and raised the dead. Like Elijah, Jesus was raptured into the heavens. Like Elijah, Jesus is coming back.
Christians can set a chair for Jesus if they’d like. But he’s not coming back.
We’re on our own.
But we are not alone.
We have each other.
We live and move and have our being with creatures great and small in a vast and wondrous community of life. And we live and move and have our being in something we can’t put our finger on. It’s a mystery. It’s unknown. We can give it a name or just let it be.
Of course, we don’t know everything. We’re in the dark half the time. But we keep reaching. We want to know more. We’re unapologetically curious. Unknowns bug us.
But we do know some things. We know we’re resourceful, ingenious, and resilient. And we know we’re capable of great good and great evil. We know hubris brings us down; humility lifts us up. We know we are finite; our days are numbered. We know our planet is finite; its days are numbered.
We can fuss, fume, and fret. We can eat, drink, and laugh ourselves into oblivion. We can wait for deliverance. Or we can spend our mortal days working to make our shared home as beautiful, peaceful, just, whole, and sustainable as we possibly can.
There’s enough for everyone’s need. There’s not enough for everyone’s greed.
Living for self alone is hell. Living for others is heaven.
Jesus said that. He doesn’t have to come back to say it again. But if it takes an empty chair to remember what he said, set an empty chair.
The way that leads to life is no secret. We all know the way. Love is the way.
No, it’s not easy. We lose our way. We stumble. We fall. But we can get back up. So offer your hand to another and take the one offered to you.
Life is hard. But grace abounds.
We’re on our own.
But we are not alone.
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See Paula’s “Peaches & Daffodils” on the home page. Posted March 26, 2023
