There is always a hope by Chuma Okonkwo

There is always a hope by Chuma Okonkwo

Reflection on today’s gospel 3

Last Sunday I was unavoidably kept away from church service by some engagements. 

Today's reading: Mark 13:24-32, for me came with a mixed feeling. On one hand, was expression of sadness that I will one day leave this beautiful place and be gone forever. The lovely family and relatives I have got, the beautiful place I have gone to, the wonderful people I have met, the fascinating experiences and exposures I have had thus far in life, and the anticipated future brimming with hopes of groundbreaking achievements, made me to want to query God! But on the other hand, the hope for salvation, the belief in the power of resurrection, and faith in eternity, overwhelmed me. Though both thoughts were sobering and opposing, but the latter was reassuring and overwhelming.

The thoughts were somber and sobering, mostly the fact that life itself is transient and everything about life is impermanent. Thus every effort I put forth to make my mark is interim, and in a nut shell, everything I do, see, and feel around me is temporary and provisional. That is the premise of today's gospel reading and it is a great revelation. It applies to everyone!

Though it may sound apocalyptic in that it precipitates the feeling of soberness but it should not be portrayed as alarming. It is rather an aide-mémoire that someone highly above us is definitely in control of our lives. The creator of mankind, the master of our souls, the keeper of times, and the controller of all seasons, who is the God Almighty, is in charge and not any human being or god or goddess. Though we do not have an iota of sense of how long we are scheduled to spend on earth and any knowledge of any details of when the great caravan- death will call, but we do surely have great assets- we have everything that we need to put our trusts in God Almighty. The punchline for us is to look at the bigger picture, which stares us often in the face, and that is eternity!