Lent Nineteen "Get up and Walk"

 

The Miracle of the draught of fish
by James Thornhill.  Copy of painting by Raphael
Royal Academy  -London

If God were suddenly condemned to live the life which he has inflicted on men, He would kill Himself.  

Alexandre Dumas Fils (1824-95), Pendes d’album  

There is a wonderful irony to this quote.  Was it intended?  It reminds me of Nietzsche's question; would you choose to live your life again?  How many of us are really enjoying our lives?  For may it is soulless drudgery.  We have but one life to live.  I understand this life as the training ground for the next.  Without this life we are not eligible for the next.  The key is to experience enough of the fullness of the future life, to believe that it is possible.  I remember the exact moment that I hugged my father goodbye, after a meal in a restaurant in Oxford.  Two weeks later he was dead on the floor of his church in Libya.  I had a sense at the time that it was going to be a long time till I next saw him.  This was a message from the Creator to me.  Unlike a dream, the message has not faded in my mind.  The message spoke of seeing my father again.  

Gospel of John Chapter Twenty One

After a while things quietened down. Seven of us, the fishing fraternity, decided to do something. Money was getting tight, so we pushed out the boat. That wasn't the only thing that was tight. The fish didn't want to be caught. At day break we were all for giving up. There on the beach was a lone man. He seemed friendly and asked how we were doing. "Nothing of interest here", we called back. "Throw the nets over on the other side", he returned. We could hear him clearly on the off-shore breeze. We're pretty much experts, but 'nothing ventured, nothing gained'. The nets immediately hit a shoal. Latter I heard we had picked up 153 fish. Now that was quite a miracle, and it got us thinking. Must be Jesus on the shore. "I can't wait to meet him," said Peter. Typical Peter, he stripped off and was overboard in a second. By the time we'd got the nets in the boat, and made our way up onto the beach, Jesus and Peter were by a small barbecue grilling fish. We all sat in a circle, like we'd done so many times before. Jesus looked up to heaven and asked for the creator’s blessing. He then broke the fish into pieces and passed it to us. We felt alive again. Food, and his presence. A perfect combination. After we'd finished a wonderful thing happened. Jesus turned to Peter. Peter had been beating himself up over his betrayal of Jesus. Jesus made it clear, repeating three times, that he knew Peter's faith and love was rock solid. Then he asked Peter to lead us in pastoring 'his' people, The people he was now leaving. This, then, was to be our future. Of course Jesus said and did far more than I can record in these few feeble words. He even hinted to Peter that I might live for ever, until he returns. Wow, that got everyone talking. I promise I'll tell you if it happens.  Watch this space

PRAYER:  The gift of today is enough.  All you give me today I thank you for.  I also thank you for the gift of tomorrow, which is promised.