Love, the Lord

Week 2: People Look East

JOHN 1: 1-5, 14

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. 

REFLECTION

Love, the Lord is on the way. Liturgical time doesn’t quite work the way that regular time does. I feel it especially during Advent; what a strange thing it is that we say we are waiting expectantly for the birth of Christ, an event that happened millennia ago. You’ve probably heard it described as the “already and not yet” quality of our faith; that somehow, we are both celebrating things that have already happened and hoping expectantly for things that are still on the way. Jesus has already risen from the dead, but we are not yet free from death. Our sin has already been taken away, but we are not yet perfect. Jesus has already been born, but here in Advent, Mary has not yet given birth. It kind of breaks your brain, but faith is full of these moments where time doesn’t work the way we expect it to. 

Physics suggests that time does not actually move in a straight line from past to present to future. Time is more like a dimension that we are inside of, and it only seems to us like time flows linearly for a bunch of reasons that have something to do with the second law of thermodynamics and maybe also the speed of light. I wish I could say something more intelligent about the science, but in the end, I think St. Augustine said it best: “What is time? If no one asks me, I know what it is. But if I wish to explain it to someone who asks, I do not know.” Time really doesn’t work the way we expect it to, so perhaps liturgical time actually gives us a better glimpse of reality than our usual way of thinking. 

Perhaps, for God, who dwells beyond time, all times are equally present. I wonder if that’s part of what John’s gospel is trying to express in these opening verses—that Jesus’ beginning is also about THE beginning. Time doesn’t work the way we expect it to, and the moment of the incarnation in the first century is connected with the moment of creation. Perhaps the moment when God first began creating is somehow also the moment when God became flesh and dwelt among us, and somehow also the moment when Jesus rose from the dead, and somehow also the moment when he will return to us. Past, present, and future are all bound together in one gracious action that is already and still on the way, one Word that God has spoken and is speaking still. I don’t understand it, but I know it has something to do with love. Love the Lord is always already with us, and Love the Lord is also always on the way to us. Thanks be to God.

REFLECTION QUESTION(S):

How do you experience the “already and not yet” quality of our faith? Are there things that you sense are “on the way” in your own spiritual journey?

“The Light Shines in the Darkness”, 2021 by Lucy Baum

WRITTEN BY

Lucy Baum