2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14
Today will be spent balancing getting ready for my week-and-a-half trip to California and spending each moment I can with my wife. I won't lie, I will miss her a lot. It would seem that for the month of June I would have spent exactly the same amount of days with her and away from her.
Being separated doesn't mean the same thing as it once used to. In my younger days we didn't have cell phones and video-chat on our computers. We didn't even have computers. Most times if one was away from one's friends and family a phone call from the hotel room on occasion would be the best any could hope for. We worried a little, prayed a lot, and watched the television for any news from home. The adage "no news is good news" really had meaning.
On one trip I missed my wife so much I wrote a poem on the trip back home which told of how I longed to be in her presence. But, as I said, being separated doesn't hold the same meaning as it once did. These days I can hear her voice anytime I want and see her face each night before I go to bed; unless the power goes out (sigh).
In reading this morning's passage I got the same feeling for God. I can remember days when I felt very much separated from God. I have felt separated to the point that I didn't think God existed. These days I don't feel as separated. I've built my relationship with God to the point where I can call God anytime to hear God's voice and see God's face.
The poet Lord Byron says, "Absence is the common cure for love." It's very true that when we're away from that which we love, or that which loves us, we feel as though something is missing - an emptiness. It's just as true that when we reconnect with that which is love we feel that emptiness fill.
In the days ahead I will miss those I love very much. I will worry about their well-being and pray that their lives find joy and peace. Maybe in that way I won't be as separated from them.
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