LIFE IN THE MIDDLE

If one believes that the Bible is a commentary on life, and in many ways I truly think it is, then one can discern a short synopsis of life: life begins as good and life ends as good, but it is in the middle that we have our problems. Genesis begins by reminding us that all of creation, including and especially life itself, is good. It can be nothing else but good because God is good and God creates nothing that is not good in and of itself, including and especially we human beings.

The last book of the Bible, Revelation, ends with the reminder that the ending of life will also be good. There will be new heavens and a new earth when all will be well. No matter what has happened to us in this life, no matter how painful or tragic, in the end all will be well because we will be celebrating and living an eternal life with God, who, because God is who God is, will make all things well.

In the meantime, between birth and death, life is not always so good. In fact, as Genesis records in its parabolic manner, things went from bad to worse very quickly, from a simple sinful act of disobedience to brother killing brother in a fit of jealous rage to the whole of creation being damned because of humanity’s sinfulness. Yet starting all over after the Flood unfortunately did not correct the mess.

Life is, well, messy. It’s not a disastrous mess at it may sometimes seem to be but it’s certainly not pretty and certainly not something to brag about where one given the opportunity to sing life’s and humanity’s praises. In fact, we would be hesitant to do such because we all know that we are the makers of this mess and the reason why, in spite of our best efforts, little if any progress seems to be made – can be made.

We live in a confusing and unsteady world, a world made so not because God has abandoned us but because God gives us the free will to make foolish and selfish choices. But we go on. We have no choice. Well, we do, but let’s not go there. We go on because we want to go on because, in spite of the messiness of life, in spite of our sinfulness, in spite of the bad that sometimes clouds the good, there is much good about our own personal lives and life itself, more good than bad. And even when that which is not so good seems to have the upper hand in our lives, we know we are not fighting the battle alone. We have one another.

In many ways that is why we gather each week as a parish family. We come here to St. Brendan’s to support one another in our individual and corporate faith journeys. We prop each other up, hold one another accountable and know that God will give us both the will and the means to help clean up the messes we have made and become less messy in the future.

We live life in the middle, between birth and death, between those good times and, at the same time, experiencing the good of life itself that comes between the bad times. We are never discouraged and we never give up because we are fed by the Eucharist and by the love of one for another.