The world I saw this morning was once again bright and quiet and peaceful. Opening the door there are the sights and sounds of a soothing Creation. It’s not easy to imagine the very different reality for so many people in these Covid-19 days. The distress and discomfort of the sick; the nagging emptiness of the bereaved; the resource sapping efforts of carers. But this is our world and the world as it has always been. I read somewhere that human life is a constant vibration between positive and negative poles. This may be the truth that the writer of Ecclesiastes was expressing when he wrote:
‘There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.’ (Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8)
Human experience is complicated. The positive extinguished by the negative. The negative giving way to the positive. But I remember that it is this perplexing life that Jesus has shared with us. He lived this life where there is mourning as well as celebration. He was excited when people showed insight and understanding and he was troubled by their lack of love. He rejoiced in the life of the world around him and wept over the destruction of death. But it didn’t end there. Life was not just what is seen, heard, touched and experienced whether positive or negative. He showed in His resurrection that the worst in human experience had no ultimate claim over us. The days of sin and death were numbered. God had plans for a Creation evacuated of everything that had ever caused His people pain. A New Creation where a new humanity would live in the freshness and peace we can for the moment only taste.
The night before His worst of experiences Jesus said to His disciples:
‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house there are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you.’ (John 14: 1-2)
