"for You,
I have to risk it all,
for the writing's on the wall..."
The other night Sam Smith's recording of "The Writing's on the Wall" found its way to the top of my playlist. About the same time that I was thinking about Jesus' night in the garden of Gethsemane. Suddenly it wasn't James Bond that Sam was singing about -- it was Jesus.
I can only imagine what it must have been like to know you were going to be arrested and crucified. Yes, he also knew that a resurrection was part of God's plan for him, but still...
I keep thinking about his spiritual preparation for this ultimate opportunity to demonstrate his love for mankind -- by modeling his unprecedented trust in God's omnipotent goodness. His willingness to give each of us a precedent-setting case of what happens when you "risk" it all for Love.
We know that he was a student of earliest scripture. As a good Hebrew boy, he was familiar with the stories in the Old Testament. He would have heard of Daniel's night in the lions' den, of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fire, of Moses' journey through a parted sea with the Children of Israel. He would have memorized the Psalms and learned from Job. He was ready.
He had been humbled, tempted, lauded, questioned, exalted, pursued, defended, and defamed. He had spent 40 days in the desert, was the honored guest at weddings and feasts, read in the temple, was pursued by a mob, and fed multitudes. He was ready.
He had seen water made wine, men turn from their self-righteous anger, lepers made clean, a bent woman straightened, money from the mouth of a fish, thousands fed, a blind man seeing, and the dead raised to life. He was ready.
Last summer a friend shared three short sentences in a talk. They were:
You belong here.
You are ready.
You are not alone.
There has not been a day - since hearing those three sentences strung together - that I have not claimed them for myself and others. The comfort of knowing that we have been sent into each moment for a holy purpose. The confidence inspired by realizing that we are prepared and ready for this experience with spiritual skills, tools, resources, experiences, and proofs. And the abiding sense that we are not alone as we stand in this moment. Divine Love is with us every step of the way. Isaiah shares this promise:
"Now thus saith the Lord, Fear not -- when thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; I will make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert..."
And the Pslamist, David writes:
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou are with me..."
Jesus would have known these promises from scripture. They must have been a great comfort to him. I know they have been for me. If the writing's on the wall -- and we know that we must pass through the fire of self-immolation, then the writing is also on the page, telling us how we can do navigate this passage with spiritual courage, strength, wisdom, and trust.
John relates this promise from Jesus:
"In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."
What love he has shown us. What gifts of compassion and understanding he has left for us. No one was awake with Jesus in the garden to take notes. Yet we know what happened there - the plea, the tears, the surrender. He, himself, must have left record of this night of gloom and glory with his followers. Perhaps he left this record as encouragement for all who he knows will follow him in their own path of devotion to God and mankind.
In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy says this about our own sometimes tear-strewn path in following his example:
"It is possible, — yea, it is the duty and privilege of every child, man, and woman, — to follow in some degree the example of the Master by the demonstration of Truth and Life, of health and holiness."
As hard as that may seem to imagine, we -- every child, man, and woman -- are ready to do this. We are well-prepared. Our spiritual storehouses are well-stocked.
As Paul writes in II Corinthians:
"God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.
Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift."
Not long ago, I found myself in a very dark place. It was unexpected and unsettling. I reminded myself over and over again: I belong here. I am ready. I am not alone. I was willing to accept that this seeming darkness was really the backdrop for a brilliant Truth to be seen more clearly. Day-by-day I searched scripture, listened in prayer, waited patiently. I looked for God's presence in my life -- in hundreds of tiny ways -- reminding me that I was not alone. When the light broke -- it was not in opposition to the darkness, but enhanced by it.
We are prepared to see the lowering cloud for what it is -- the promise of healing, reviving rain. We can run for cover, or we can stay and watch the desert blossom as the rose. Arms stretched wide, face turned up to receive His bow of promise.
We belong here. We belong in every moment of our own awakening to spiritual life and its possibilities -- whether it be through the doors of the temple, in the silence of a sanctuary, or on the path of our own cross-bearing. We are ready. We are well-equipped with scriptural truths, confidence-inspiring experiences, prayer-based encouragement, and his life-affirming promises. And we are not alone. We have Jesus' example -- and most vitally, we have the kingdom of God at hand, with us, within our hearts.
Yes, the writing's on the wall. But His Word is written in our hearts.
offered with Love,
Kate
