This year the Ascension just hits different (as the kids like to say). Our pandemic experience right now has parallels to how the disciples must have felt after the resurrection
Ascension Day Reminds the Church Who We Are
Here, forty days after experiencing the impossible, grappling with the fact that Jesus had risen from the dead, the disciples are again standing in awe.
Why are you staring at the sky?
In the retelling of this story in Acts chapter one, after Jesus ascends, the disciples are staring up towards the heavens and two men in white robes appear. They ask the disciples:“Why do you stand looking up towards heaven?”
God reached out a hand for Jesus; God reaches out a hand for me.
When I look back at my life, what felt like random stumbling at the time now appears ordered and planned, as if someone far bigger and wiser than I is holding the reins.
Celebrating the Ascension
Today we celebrate the Ascension, one of the major feasts of the church. As a parent, I’m struck by this ancient image.