New Beginnings
The end is never the end, but always in the economy of a God who created us and loves us, the end is a new beginning. This morning there was actually a touch of fall in the air. Not a full blown crispness, just a touch. But that touch was enough to remind me that summer is drawing to a close, that as of today almost all of our children are back in school, from pre-K to college and everything in between. And, for those of us in the South, we can tell you exactly how many days, hours and minutes it is until our favorite high school or college team hits the gridiron for the first time.
I have seen so much excitement among the children and teenagers I work with as a priest. I have seen pictures of the first day of high school taken by the students and their parents, alone and with their best friends. I have seen pictures of college freshmen, pledging their sorority or fraternity, or joining the college band for the first time. I have seen pictures of teachers ready for another year of challenge, heartache and joy. Even though most of us are not going back to school, either to study or to teach, I believe we can share the joy and the excitement of those who are. If we get too close to them, we too might just be infected with the enthusiasm that will change our lives and maybe even change the world.
I believe that none of us are ever too old to learn and that the day we stop learning is the day we begin to die. We can learn about life from our friends and on our jobs and in our community involvement. We can learn about love and joy from the religious community of which we are a part. I do not use the term religious institution because at our best, we are in fact involved in communities rather than institutions. We can also learn about awe and wonder, not just from these religious communities, but from the beauty and power of the creation itself.
Jesus taught that “unless we become like a little child, we will never enter the kingdom of God. I believe that at least part of what Jesus meant by this is that unless we as adults recapture the joy and wonder of creation and the excitement of finding all things new, that we will miss the excitement of the presence of God in the world and in our lives, even when it is right under our noses.
The writer of the apocalyptic book of Revelation in the Bible, written to give hope to the Christians during the Roman persecutions at the end of the first century AD, assures us that (Jesus) “is making all things new. . . .I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children (Revelation 21:5-7). Think of this wonderful promise every time a school bus slows you down, or when you send your children or grandchildren out the door for the beginning of each new day. And as we approach each new day of our own lives, I pray that we remember Jesus’ admonition to the adults of his time and take his words as our own words to live by: “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it. And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them (Mark 10:14b-16).
Blessings to you, in the name of the One who makes all things new.
Ben Alford
The Rev. Ben Alford is a retired Episcopal Priest living in Elmore County. He may be reached at benajr@aol.com
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