Judgment is not a topic we like to talk about. In the Creeds of the Church we say “He will come again to judge the living and the dead,” but we don't really like to think about it. This past weekend there was much anticipation among some people that the end of the world was imminent. Of course it is not the first time a would-be prophet has predicted this. I am always reminded of Jesus’ own words, “You do not know the day or the hour.” Each new challenge or disaster makes us ask if the end is coming or even debate ‘when is the end coming.’ Instead of trying to figure out a time frame for God, we need to be living life to the best of our ability. Barbara Brown Taylor* recounts the story of legislators in colonial New England. “A meeting of state legislators was plunged into darkness by a sudden eclipse, during which many of those present panicked and others moved to adjourn. But one of them said, ‘Mr. Speaker, if it is not the end of the world and we adjourn, we shall appear to be fools. If it is the end of the world, I should choose to be found doing my duty. I move you, sir, the candles be brought.’”
Brown reminds us that we are called each day to the same decision the Israelites in the wilderness had. “I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil,” says Moses. (Deuteronomy 30:15). Choosing to follow God brings change and transformation, but not necessarily in our time frame. In this blog series, we’ve looked at the way our ‘scars’ can glow, but that transformation often requires wrestling with God and/or waiting on God. There are messengers in our lives and there is judgment that brings us up short. Judgment can make us aware of how far we are from God. However, it is only a short step back. We simply have to take the time to be with God. According to Brown, “Our job is to watch for the one who come to us with healing in his wings and to open the door for him before he raises his hand to knock.”
One of the parables the Dragon tells George* is about a card game between the Devil and God. The stakes are control of the days of the week. “Game followed game, and God allowed the Devil to win six whole days!...A circle of angels who had watched the card game shook their heads in dismay. ‘Why, Lord God,’ they said, ‘did you let that cheating Devil win six of the seven days? What can you do with only one day?’
And God answered, ‘Oh, I’ve got special plans. I need only one day; that’s more than enough!’…‘All I need is one day for them to enjoy me! They can savor me when they enjoy leisure, when they rest. For it is only then that they can recognize and return the love that I have put into all creation.’
Judgment is not necessarily a bad thing. It is chance to turn and start over again. Brown says that “Whatever it is that our hearts yearn for, chances are that it has something to do with our vision of what it would be to mean for us to be made whole, to be transformed…more nearly the people God created us to be….Whatever happens to us while we are waiting, however dark it gets before it gets light…[we are in] good hands.”
I suggest you meditate on the questions she asks: “What are you waiting for, and how is it shaping your life? Are you waiting for certainty, for healing, for love?...for recognition, for retirement…peace and justice…?” Think about how the answer impacts your journey of transformation. Do you believe that we are in good hands?
*quotes from Gospel Medicine by Barbara Brown Taylor and St. George and the Dragon and the Quest for the Holy Grail by Edward Hays.
