Dear Friends,

Today, May 10, is the Feast of the Ascension. Coming 40 days after Easter, it is the day on which the church recalls the scriptural accounts of Jesus’ ascension to heaven after numerous post-resurrection encounters with his followers. Traditionally, depictions of this event show the disciples looking upward, in both awe and astonishment. They were transfixed.

As Luke tells the story in the first chapter of Acts, two men robed in white – angels perhaps – had to then  reorient them.  “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven?” The disciples to leave Mt. Olivet and return to where they were staying in Jerusalem, where they would then discover the power of the Holy Spirit. That same Spirit then led them out into the world, bearing witness to God’s love for all of humanity. The focus of our Ascension gaze is not so much meant to be upward as it is outward.

We are living in times where all too many voices are encouraging us not to look up or out, but rather to look inward toward ourselves. If you consistently place your own interests first, it becomes easier to ignore the needs of others.

It seems like an especially appropriate time for the church to both hear and emulate the orientation of those disciples – to turn our gaze outward toward the world and all of its inhabitants, that we might be bearers of God’s embracing love.

Faithfully,

Tom