The last line in the John Updike story entitled, “Short Easter,’ is telling: Everything seemed still in place, yet something was immensely missing. The story begins and takes its’ title from the coincidence of Daylight Savings Time beginning on Easter Sunday. As the narrator is experiencing it, something is missing from the very beginning of the story. A chunk of the day, even this holy day, has been clipped, thus, a Short Easter. Of course, what is missing is not just time but what ever it is that even times comes from, the essential something of life that is life. I am reminded of another story. It is one that takes place at the heart of a book called interestingly, “The Never-Ending Story” by Michael Ende:
The nothing is spreading,’ groaned the first. ‘It’s growing and growing, there’s more of it every day, if it’s possible to speak of more nothing.’
‘Is it very painful?’ Atryu asked.
‘No,’ said the second bark troll, the one with the hole in his chest. ‘You don’t feel a thing. There’s just something missing. And once it gets hold of you, something more is missing every day. Soon there won’t be anything left of us.’
I believe this is precisely what the narrator in the Updike story was experiencing, the nothing. Have you ever experienced the nothing, something just missing, you can’t even name it? I believe it is not uncommon for we human beings and I also believe it may be a sign of hope. It may be the voice of God calling for us to awaken to the SOMETHING that is missing in our lives, to go deeper, to take seriously the holiness of life, to embrace the presence of the holy in the midst of living.
Seek God where God may be found. Return to God and be glad. We may find something if we look. It may be in the moments of our everyday lives or it may be in stepping apart from the routine. This month I am anticipating sharing with you the practice of looking and listening for God. On Tuesday we will use literature, the stories of our own times (such as the Updike story mentioned above) to open windows on our own lives and living, to listen for God in the life of the world and our own life, to engage in holy conversation. On Wednesday nights from 630 to 7 a Vespers Service (Evening Prayers) will be offered inviting us to worship, to come intentionally into the presence of the holy in community.
It is written, Seek God while God may be found, call upon God while God is near. (Isaiah 55.6)
Bless your hearts, Larry
