Sacred Reflections

I’m a puzzle girl.

I love puzzles.
I can sit and look at them
for hours…
playing with the pieces,
turning them around,
trying different angles,
until I find the right fit.

I like watching
the puzzle come together,
little bits at a time,
connecting the little bits
to one another,
to create a bigger section.

And I love puzzling with others.
The feel of someone else sitting next to me
working on their little bits
while I put mine together.
And then finding the one piece
where our sections connect,
bringing our parts together
into the larger image.

This process feels meditative
and relaxing to me.
I sink into it.
Lose track of time.

As the puzzle comes together,
there are always a few holes,
where the right piece
just doesn’t seem to exist.
I begin thinking
I’ve lost some pieces,
or they got left out of the puzzle box.
I resign myself to
almost completion,
grateful for the time
to get lost in the assembly,
and that most of the image is complete.
I can live with a few missing pieces.

I walk away.
Cook dinner.
Take a walk.
Call a friend.
Tend to chores.

But I always
come back later.
Maybe the next day.
I sit again,
and fuss with what’s left.
Turning stray pieces around
that don’t seem to have a home.
Until suddenly they do.
What did not fit earlier,
suddenly slips into place.

I always wonder why
that happens.
Why I couldn’t see it earlier,
and then suddenly I can.
It seems mysterious
and magical.

Scripture often feels this way to me,
like a puzzle. 
I’ve been sitting with it
for years.
Reading it.
Praying with it. 
Leading Bible Studies.
Reading what other people say about it.
Preaching on it.
Teaching about it.

Like a puzzle
I’ve focused on some parts
close up.
Over time
I’ve noticed how they connect
to other parts,
watched as the bigger Scripture story
came together.

But many parts of the Scripture puzzle
remain a mystery to me.
For a season
I walked away.
Lost interest.
There were big chunks
that did not make sense.
Large sections
where pieces seemed
to be missing.

In recent years
I’ve come back
to the Scripture puzzle.
And I’ve been surprised,
sometimes weekly,
by how a story,
or a saying of Jesus,
that never made sense,
suddenly slips into place.

It happened again this week,
in the story
where Jesus raises his friend Lazarus
from the dead.

Before Lazarus dies,
he is very sick.
Jesus knows he’s sick.
His friends tell him he’s sick.
Lazarus’ sisters send for Jesus
to come heal Lazarus
before he dies.

But Jesus says,
 “This illness does not lead to death;
rather it is for God’s glory.”

This has always puzzled me.
Why does Jesus say,
“This illness does not lead to death”?
It does lead to death!
Lazarus dies!
And Jesus waits until Lazarus dies
before he responds to Mary and Martha’s plea
that he come to them.

I completely understand their lament
when Jesus finally arrives,
“Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not have died.”

This is a part
of the Scripture puzzle
I’ve left alone,
not knowing where
the missing pieces are.

But this week
I prayed with this part,
searching for
the missing pieces.
“Show me Spirit,”
 I said,
“what does this mean,
when Jesus says,
‘this illness does not lead to death’.”

The Spirit led me
back to Jesus’ words.

“This illness does not lead to death;
rather it is for God’s glory.”

Then Spirit whispered to me,
“The end, is not the end”.

And suddenly,
I saw something new.
I’ve always thought “death”
was the end.
Of course I did.
In our culture,
death is always the end.
Nothing comes after death.
The road ends.
The journey stops there.
That is what death is.
The end.

But Spirit
whispered to me,
“The end, is NOT the end”.

Death is NOT the end.
Jesus even says this!

“This illness does not lead to death;
rather it is for God’s glory.”

For Jesus,
there is something AFTER death.
He even says it a couple of ways.
“Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep,
but I am going there to awaken him.” 

But like me,
this confuses the disciples.
“Lord, if he has fallen asleep,
he will be all right.”

Jesus had been speaking
about Lazarus’ death,
but they thought
Jesus was referring merely to sleep. 
Then Jesus tells them plainly,
“Lazarus is dead.”

So, is Lazarus dead?
Or is Lazarus asleep?
Yes.
For Jesus, they are the same thing.

In other places,
Jesus talks about
the importance of  “staying awake”
in order to see the sacred realm,
the glory of God.

Other wisdom teachers
say the same thing.

Rumi, a wisdom teacher,
from the Muslim tradition
says,

“People are going back and forth
across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch,
The door is round and open
Don’t go back to sleep!”

Where we see an “end”
Jesus, and other mystics,
see a door way.

Death is not the end.
Death is the doorway,
where the two worlds touch.

Jesus says,
“Lazarus’ illness does not lead to death;
rather it is for God’s glory.”

Lazarus illness leads to a doorway
revealing the sacred realm.
Jesus allows Lazarus to die
so Jesus’ friends,
can see there is more
on the other side of death.
Lazarus’ death reveals God’s glory,
the luminous presence of God,
shining forth through all things,
but usually hidden
by the ordinary garments of the world.

This is why Jesus waits.
In raising Lazarus from the dead
Jesus offers his friends
a living parable,
essentially teaching them,
“The end, is not the end.”

If something as dead a Lazarus,
gone four days,
can come back to life,
then the other deaths we experience,
are not the end either.

The end, is not the end.

The end of a marriage,
is not the end.

The end of a job,
is not the end.

Even the death of a child,
is not the end.

The assassination of a beloved leader,
is not the end.

The election of a feared political leader,
is not the end.

The diagnosis of cancer,
is not the end.

Incarceration,
is not the end.

Infertility,
is not the end,

Bankruptcy,
is not the end.

The narrative of our lives,
our sacred journeys with God,
all continue
after these deaths.

The end, is not the end.

The glory of God,
the luminous presence of Love,
lives within all these moments.
And Love
will lead us through the portal
of these deaths,
onto new paths.

Some of those paths
continue in this earthly realm.

We are lead into more meaningful work.
Through a season of chemo treatments
            we discover what really matters to us.
After our bankruptcy,
            we realize our worth does not live in our financial statement
We find ourselves surprised by love at 80 years
            after the death of partner we loved for 50.

And, some paths lead us out of this earthly realm.

This weekend is a thin place in time.
It’s the midpoint between
the Autumn Equinoix
and the Winter Soltice.
For many spiritual traditions,
it’s considered sacred time.

The Celts called this day Samhain.
marking the end of the harvest season
and beginning of winter
or “darker-half” of the year.
It was considered a “thin place”
when the veil between this world
and the next was thin,
and those who has crossed over through death,
lingered near.

Others celebrate The Day of the Dead
in these days.

A trinity of days
in the Christian tradition
begins today with All Hallow’s Eve,
the eve of All Saints Day.

All these traditions,
remember those who’ve
ended their earthly journey
and now live in a new realm
on the other side of death.
 
The end, is not the end.

In many traditions,
we light candles,
and build fires,
both to give thanks
for the way the light
of loved ones shined
in this world,
and also, to bear witness
that Loves continues to shine
even when the nights are longer,
and darkness grows.

The end, is not the end.
Death is always the portal
to glory,
to more light,
to more Love.

AMEN.

Questions for Reflection
Who do remember on this All Hallow’s Eve?
How does their light, love and presence continue to live in you?
When has the end of something, also brought you to the beginning of something new?