Light accessible

A Reflection on the Second Reading for May 26th, 2019:  
​Sixth Sunday of Easter

Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23

And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. It has the glory of God and a radiance like a very rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal. 


It has a great, high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates are inscribed the names of the twelve tribes of the Israelites; on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 


I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 

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As Jerusalem descends I feel a wash of clear air cut through the murkiness of my moments these days. 

Reading reports and arguing silliness — hurt feelings and hurt knees. 
Voices in my head second guessing myself at each turn.  Mistakes.  Messes. 
And then a mountain.  A great high mountain

All the mess means something because of the mountain. 

Still clear bright air. 
But the mountain isn’t it.  Isn’t the point.  It’s just the vantage point to see what’s coming.

This existence where nothing is needed to contain God’s Presence. 
Not the Temple, not the Bread, not the Bride. 
Nothing is needed to contain Him because He is simply there. 
Entirely exposed in His glory.  The I Am is. 
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And we are invited in.  Into this new way of life, that was the first way before the goodness was lost. 
And we lost our way.  We lost our Way.  We lost Him. 
​And here He is — Light Inaccessible, accessible.  No longer hid from our eyes. 

"The Book of Revelation...was meant as a lifeline of hope through difficult and dark days.  All of them then, all of them now and all of them to come.  A connector through to this time of Light."

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The Book of Revelation is a tough one to hold in our hands and tie up into a neat little package, but it wasn’t meant to be a blueprint of the steps that bring us to this moment.  It wasn’t meant to be a scare tactic.  It was meant as a lifeline of hope through difficult and dark days.  All of them then, all of them now, and all of them to come.  A connector through to this time of Light.   It’s an invitation, an invitation to come close.  Near the beginning of the book he says, 

‘Listen, I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.’ Rev 3:20

 Near the end of the book we have this image of an intimacy beyond imaging.  Finding our Way. Living in our Light. Without a barrier. That’s the point. 


Jesus, I am sorry for missing the point.  I am sorry for my part in the murkiness.  For letting what’s in front of me in my moments block my sight of you.  I am sorry for letting the clamour I live in drown out the sound of your knocking.  You are my lifeline, my hope, my joy, my light, my Way, my Truth, my Life.  I am swinging wide the door Jesus, please come on in.  I love sharing a meal with you now.  It’s everything to me.  It’s my way through to the moment on the mountain, as Light descends.  I love you.  You are everything, You are I Am. 
​
Noreen Smith

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