{"id":314,"date":"2019-05-30T15:17:01","date_gmt":"2019-05-30T14:17:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniofglos.blog\/chaplaincy\/?p=314"},"modified":"2019-05-30T15:17:01","modified_gmt":"2019-05-30T14:17:01","slug":"transitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.glos.ac.uk\/chaplaincy\/2019\/05\/30\/transitions\/","title":{"rendered":"Transitions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It seems appropriate that we\u2019re\nthinking about the Ascension today, at a time when lots of students – and some\nstaff – are experiencing big transitions. Some final year students are coming\nin to say their goodbyes. Others are still finishing assignments or sitting\ntheir exams.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some are\nalready looking back with nostalgia – and looking ahead to an uncertain future\nwith trepidation. How will they move on from this place? What will the future\nhold – and who will they share it with? It\u2019s a very particular time – intense,\nuncertain, awash with possibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think that the disciples must\nhave been feeling some of that following the ascension of Jesus. They had\nshared the most amazing three years together, leading up to the heart wringing rollercoaster\nof the cross and the resurrection. They had begun to get used to Jesus being\nwith them again, in a different way – and then he makes it clear to them that\nhe is leaving them once again – and he goes. Now what? I wonder how they felt\nas they returned to Jerusalem and went back up to the room where they were staying.\nDid they talk about what had happened? Or did they sit there in silence, dazed,\nthoughtful, and full of emotion?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus explains to them that this wasn\u2019t\nthe end – it was the beginning of a new chapter. In one way he won\u2019t be with\nthem, but in another way he will be even closer to them: his Spirit – his\nbreath – will be in them. And so they wait and pray, trying to be open to what\nwill come. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest transition of all is\nmade by Jesus himself\u2026 From being a man on earth, bound by place and time, to\nbeing \u2018lifted up\u2019, taken fully into the life of God – and then at Pentecost a\nfew days later, \u2018coming down\u2019 to be with his followers again through the Spirit.\nNow he is free from all physical constraints – able to be in all places and through\nall times – able to be here with us now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we can get our head round that, and feel that it is true for us now, then it could make a huge difference when we face times of transition in our life. When everything seems to be changing and the future fills us with uncertainty and anxiety, we have the promise of Jesus; \u2018I am with you always, to the end of the age.\u2019 If we can put our trust in that promise, and learn to rest in his unseen but very real presence, somewhere beneath the unsettled surface of our lives, then we can know that we are loved with an unchanging love, and that we will never go into any situation alone, because he will always be with us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I love this icon that I saw in Taiz\u00e9,\nof Jesus and Abbot Mena. The original came from Egypt in the 6th<\/sup>\nCentury. The striking thing for me is where Jesus\u2019 hand is resting\u2026 Maybe there\nwere times when Jesus did this with Peter, or Thomas, or Mary\u2026 But now he can\ndo it with all of us – this is the deeper reality that Ascension Day makes\npossible – the presence of Jesus with us each step of our way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine for a moment some situation\nthat we face – maybe something new, a change, maybe something which causes us\napprehension\u2026 In that place, can we sense Jesus with us, his arm around our\nshoulders\u2026?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lord Jesus, open our inner\nawareness to your presence with us – now – and in every situation that we face.\nWe bring to you our own anxieties about what lies ahead: help us to trust in\nyou\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We pray for those we know who are\nfacing times of transition, or uncertainty. We pray for those sitting exams or\nfinishing assignments and full of anxiety\u2026 Lord, may they sense your loving\npresence holding them, and leading them on\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We think of those first followers.\nLord, as they put their trust in you, may we be open to your Spirit carrying us\nforward, and sending us out to make your love known through our lives\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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