Last night my boys had a campout with dad in the backyard.
No, I didn’t sleep out there myself (hi, have we met?) but I did tuck them in before going inside to my warm, comfortable bed. Of course, once inside though I couldn’t sleep. I kept jumping up to look out the window to the backyard with a million questions in my head… Were they too cold? Was the tent big enough to be comfortable? Was our friendly neighborhood bobcat gonna jump the fence and come for a visit? Would they be scared even though dad was right next to them?
Silly worries flooded my head every time I woke and glanced outside even as I saw the tent still sitting up right and zipped in the yard. Can you tell I’ve never camped before?
My boys are growing up, and they have many adventures ahead of them that will leave me with even more questions and a few more sleepless nights I’m sure. It seems, despite my best efforts to slow it, they can’t stay little forever. The challenging part about them growing up? I know that life never stays in the good and stress free moments. It ebbs and flows and takes numerous twists and turns. You never quite know what’s around the next bend.
Today is the 5th Sunday of Lent. Even though we know what is around the bend for Jesus, we relive it every year as if for the first time. In today’s Gospel, Jesus is once again explaining to his friends what is to happen even though I’m sure they still don’t quite understand.
I wonder if his friends had any restless nights during this time. Were their heads bombarded with questions, some silly and some very real? Did they feel helpless to stop the future from coming? Did they doubt there would be joy because all they could see was the projected pain?
Over and over, Jesus reassures His friends… and He tries to do the same with us as well. Unlike his friends, we can see the future in this story. We know that though Jesus suffers and dies and his friends grieve… He also rises again from the dead and His friends rejoice. Let us take this knowledge of how this story ends and let it strengthen us through our own trials ahead. There will be suffering and pain… but also be so much light and resurrection. ⠀
