Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter
Doing the morning drop off for my now almost 3-year-old has been part of my routine almost every school day. My son really struggled when he moved from an in-home sitter to a more formal day care setting. There were lots of tears, his and mine sometimes, when he transitioned. We’d sing “grown ups come back” from Daniel Tiger and I’d reassure him that it will only be for “a little while.”
In today’s Gospel (for those of us where we will be celebrating the Ascension on Sunday) Jesus tells his disciples that he’ll be gone for “a little while” and will return. The disciples are confused. Jesus goes on to say, “you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.” A few verses after today’s Gospel Jesus continues, “… I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.”
A privilege and honor that I have in my ministry is to accompany families to the graveside following a funeral. It’s a moment of tremendous pain and sorrow. The separation of death is very real in that moment. Yet, the prayers at that time point to the joy that will come one day. The joy that will come when we are all reunited together with our Savior when He appears in glory. This promise that Jesus makes to us in today’s Gospel. That one day in “a little while” we will be reunited with him, and nothing, not even death, will be able to separate us from His perfect love.
As is often the case with little ones, after time, my son is doing much better at drop off. There is a kind of joy parents get to experience. I feel it on the days where I also get to do pick-up, when my son sees me across the classroom or playground and comes running towards me, his arms above his head wanting to be scooped up and given a big hug. It is a kind of joyous feeling that I suspect all parents know, but I have a hard time putting it into words. May this joy, the joy of a child running to their parent at the end of the school day, be the joy we anticipate together as we wait for the day in “a little while” when he who is our life and light appears again in glory. May we be prepared on that day to run towards Jesus ready to embrace Him.
—Will Marsh