“Not one stone will be left here upon another;
all will be thrown down.”
—Mark 13.2
This is not a metaphor. The temple will be destroyed.
What we love, what we thought permanent,
will be thrown down.
Night descends.
Now, in the darkness, the lights matter.
Jesus is not preparing us to picnic in happy suburbs;
he’s training us to live with grace in a troubled city,
to live with kindness and courage amid turmoil and loss.
This brokenness is the world in which mercy matters.
When things fall apart, when chaos and fracture surround us,
we can stay whole.
When fear and anger rule, we can stay faithful to love.
When the temple comes down, don’t panic;
stay kind.
Empire will come and plunder,
but they can’t take the light in you.
They can’t take your courage to choose.
They can’t take your commitment to live with grace.
No one can take the Beloved from you.
That tender, strong presence is in you to stay.
Despite what falls around us,
tend to what rises within us.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
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