Luke begins his writing of the Acts of the Apostles by referring to his writing of the Gospel, “In the first book, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught… He then presented himself alive to the disciples… after he had suffered” and died.
What is our commitment to receiving with joy that most precious gift the world has to offer us – being alive? What is our commitment to receiving with joy the gift of others, sharing this gift of life with us? The Gospel is a life story of a person who lived with a joy for life. What is the story of our life? Jesus, the disciples, all of us, know heartache. Worse, we know abuse and suffering that is intentional and drains that joy. Given all that we are put through, how can it be said of us, we presented ourselves as alive to the world. For all that Jesus is put through, that truth can be spoken of him. Jesus’ death was abusive, torturous. Empire’s rulers and their soldiers intend to kill: bodies, ideas, movements, spiritualities – anything and everything. They intend to drain joy. To believe Jesus rose from the dead could be identified as delusional. It could also be the power of life forever overcoming the forces of death. Not death that comes to us from nature. No. Death that is forced upon us by those who do not receive with joy the gift of life and instead are cavalier in forcing upon us their abuse and torture and death. Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa spoke for all the Republicans of this Reich when responding to a constituent at her latest town hall. When speaking about planned cuts to Medicaid, a woman in the audience said, “People will die.” Ernst, in all the joy for life her self-titled Christian faith could muster responded, with a laugh, “Well, we’re all going to die.” What Ernst and her fellow GOP Imperialists do not understand is, they are already dead, by their own hand. They refuse the joy and wonder and amazement of life.
When death comes… I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering: what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness? And therefore I look upon everything as a brotherhood and a sisterhood, and I look upon time as no more than an idea, and I consider eternity as another possibility, and I think of each life as a flower, as common as a field daisy, and as singular, and each name a comfortable music in the mouth tending as all music does, toward silence, and each body a lion of courage, and something precious to the earth. When it’s over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms. When it is over, I don’t want to wonder if I have made of my life something particular, and real. I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened, or full of argument. I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world. (When Death Comes – Mary Oliver.)
Prayer: Spirit, give us a joy for life.
Question: How would I describe my joy for life?
June 01, 2025 Gospel Luke 24: 46-53 Ascension