Psalm 85:1-7
Ezekiel 37:21-28
John 11:45-53
We are but six days away from the Crucifixion. Caiaphas, high priest, has persuaded the Pharisees that by executing Jesus they will keep the Romans at bay. And so now it is just a matter of time. Another human atrocity — the worst atrocity ever — is about to be committed.
Several months ago, moaning to a dear friend about the long history of man’s inhumanity to man, I asked her, “Two thousand years and what have we learned?” I went on and on, detailing how I felt about all this. My friend, wise beyond her years, listened to me with her usual patience. When I ran out of breath, she said to me — so simply that I was knocked over — “How do you think God feels?”
In that moment, she laid bare for me her own connection to God. It was a living, breathing thing, as if I were watching a human heart beating. Moreover, I suddenly understood that it is not God’s job to make me happy. It is my job to make God happy. By loving him, by loving all of you. I try. I fail. I try again. With your help, with his help, I will. We will. It’s the only chance we’ve got.
