A reflection on John 16:1-15
Daily Office Readings for Friday, April 9, 2021: AM Psalm 136; PM Psalm 118; Dan. 12:1-4,13; Acts 4:1-12 / 1 Cor. 15:51-58; John 16:1-15
Image: Caption: A vibrant night sky over Muskoka, Ontario, photographed by Michael J. Bennett, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.”
How could he even begin to say
to the ones he loved the most
the horrors and the joys
of the road set before them all?
If they knew the days ahead
They might choose not to bear them
or craft an alternative ending
that thwarts the possibility of eternal life.
And so he kept quiet
knowing that they could only come back to him
through their own lived experiences.
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.”
In the oncologist’s office,
no one ever hears a single word
once the phrase “You have cancer” hangs in the air.
How could she ever know,
in those days of vomiting and utter fatigue
that 20 years from now
she would stride a high school track in a “survivor” t-shirt,
her bright New Balance shoes
glittering in the sun
smelling the crispness of the breeze
and being the one those who have just started the journey
Now look to with hope.
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.”
In the darkest night of his soul,
a night that he felt could only end in the end of all he knew to be him
How could he ever know
That a single incoming phone call
Had the power to take the muzzle of his pistol
away from his right temple,
unload it,
put it away,
and make another phone call
that began a long pilgrimage back towards the light.
How could any of us ever know
those times the Advocate was fully present,
if the only suitable outcomes in our lives that counted
were wholly composed of the things we scripted?
Maria Evans splits her week between being a pathologist and laboratory director in Kirksville, MO, and gratefully serving in the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri , as the Interim Pastor at Christ Episcopal Church, Rolla, MO.