Advent Reflection Series: Part Three

Bethany….story to tell?

For historical and political reasons, Bethany, supposedly Jesus’s favourite chill out zone, where Mary, Martha and Lazarus pampered him a little and released him from the tomb of tiredness and exhaustion. This town which must once upon a time been captivating was now rather run down. To think that this is where the miracle of raising Lazarus happened…. ? The town was somewhat dead, and god-forsaken but also had a ‘story’ to tell.

Going down to the tomb took a while as one walked down some steep steps and then had to duck down a hollow part of the cave into the tomb, walking bent over and backwards. In the tomb, I imagined and held in prayers all who suffer from depression and loneliness. I was reminded that this is the reality of many souls who don’t see the sunshine of faith and the joy and liberation it brings. Some people we love, perhaps in our families, suffer daily with no sunshine of the knowledge of God’s love carrying them from one task to the next. They tragically wade through life relying on their own energies, incapable of surrender somehow. The good Lord sees their hearts and in his mercy reaches them too for He made them and seeks them constantly.

Once in the tomb, I desperately wanted to get out but stayed and tried to imagine what life must be like in the skin of one who suffers depression, mental illness, low self- esteem or simply those who are unaware of the immense love that God the Father has for them. Those who really believe that faith is for others but not for them and are soaked up with evolution and all sorts of theories. Those who believe that belief in God is for certain people rather than for us ALL. Those who cannot connect with the truth that Jesus came to earth for their sake too and died on the cross for love of them and would still do if they were the only breathing creature on the face of the earth.

May we be sensitive enough to recognise these souls Lord in our own families and communities and places of work/leisure. May we share the love drawn from the love you give us, that they too may enjoy the rays of warmth and slowly and gently exit the tombs of their darkness like Lazarus, untied from the lies they have come to believe about themselves, set free and fed by your love.

Amen

(Aba and her husband David are parishioners of St Maria. Her reflections are fruits of their pilgrimage to the holy land in October 2014. ‎It is hoped that they inspire prayer. Aba is a theology student of Maryvale Institute-Birmingham, UK.)