“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.”
“She stroked his head, asked after his rings. A nurse removed one, a cameo ring his father had found. I removed the other, his wedding ring, given to her to put on his hand by a priest 56 years ago, now removed by a priest and given back to her. She clutched them to her heart and said she’d soon see him again.”
“That led me to ponder how things, even sacred things like scripture, may need to be changed to fit a situation, ceremony, event, or artist’s concept. Painters and sculptors have taken Bible stories and, through their culture, imagination, and wishes of the patron commissioning the work, have dressed characters in period costume rather than in clothing of the Biblical time. Poets and writers described people and actions to convey how they perceived the characters and situations to have been at the time, although often throwing in emotions, activities, and thoughts of the current time.”
Jesus’ Ascension should be a hopeful message that the mission of Jesus can be carried on even by us quirky, fallible humans.