Ascension of the Lord Reflection: Bearing The Weight Of Time
Franciscan Reflections From The Hermitage – Ascension of the Lord – (Luke 24:46-53)
See all the weight of time that bears down upon us, that sluggishness that blurs vision and anchors us in the tangled roots and muddied water and imprisons us also in space.
If only… remember those good old days… the profound moments of life we cling to. This is the past with all the weight of regret, grief, and sadness.
The dream life I deserve… my rights… continual comparisons and judgements. This is the present moment that weighs on our minds, stealing our gratitude, peace, and joy.
What if… see all those dangers… the tentacles of fear wraps around our minds and hearts. This is that imagined future that imprisons us in its frozen landscape.
This is the heaviness, the oppression, the confusion that blocks discernment. This is the foggy weight through which we must reach towards our mystical connection within its many dimensions. This is our journey beyond appearances and misjudgements towards true appreciation of all that is true and Good.
This is our goal towards participation in the ongoing work of creation, our union in the work of the Logos, the Divine spiritual sense within us that is truly perceptive and prophetic.
This is our calling to reflect the nature of God, to reflect Love. This is our doorway into freedom and sharing in the life of the Trinity, sharing in that dance of Love, sharing in the creative fruitfulness of God’s Love.
The gift of God is shared with us in the contemplative mind that becomes capable of moving beyond the duality of the ego with its constant need for affirmation. It is only here in the space and intercession of immanence and transcendence, in that sacred space of ascension beyond the weight of time and space, that we have the opportunity to let go of our own imaginings and images that are but a poor shadow of God’s Life and Love.
Our sharing in God’s transcendent Love is the creative force of all creation and is at the centre of our lives. This is the full sharing in God’s Divine Life and Love out of which flows forgiveness and healing.
The higher our spiritual discernment takes us, the deeper the movement towards reflecting that likeness in which we are formed.
As soon as our eyes have been opened and we observe this miracle in our lives, the glow of this reflection, we begin to see this in everything and in everyone. This is where we see the body of Jesus, the Logos, the Christ. This is where the realm of the kingdom of God is found.
Now it becomes possible for us also to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us, and to walk gently upon the earth. This is our life in Christ. This is our participation in the inner life of the Trinity. This is the Life of the Trinity that now beats with the human heart so that we may share in the expanse of the Divine Heart.
Where the head has gone, we the body follow. We see this portrayed in the 1300 Giotto painting of the death and ascension of St Francis.
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