Wednesday, May 1, 2019              

Today’s Scripture Reading  |  Revelation 1:4–8
John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. (NRSV)

Reflection
How many times a day do you check a device (watch, wall clock, phone, computer, microwave, car dashboard, digital display on a marquee, etc.) to see what time it is? Can you imagine? I cannot.

Oh, how we are creatures bound by time. At work and worship. In school and recreation. As we travel, cook, or visit. Depending on what time it is, we go or we stay. We hurry or we slow down. We’re either too early or we just missed it (whatever it is). Days drag or they fly. Rarely do we see time as our friend or ally.

The Divine, on the other hand, exists outside of these constraints. Twice in these verses we are reminded that we belong to a God “who is, who was, and who is to come.” God dwells in the present moment but also the one that just passed and the one six weeks from Tuesday and all the others, too.

What does that mean for us as believers? It’s beyond what I can conceptualize, but it feels like a great opening, an expansion of consciousness. God invites us into a depth of reality and experience where all things are possible, even resurrection. When I feel like I have “all the time in the world,” certainly I am gentler, kinder, more forgiving, more aware that those who bug me the most are (like me) living into their redemption one moment at a time.

We are creatures of time but also of eternity. How might that change my perspective on this day?

Prayer
God who is, who was, and who is to come, please ground me in your eternal presence. May the contemplation of this mystery pry open my hard heart and busy mind so that I will be a better witness to your timeless love. Amen.

Written by Susan Quaintance, Director, Center for Life and Learning

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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