Bursting Forth Like a Milkweed Pod

Excerpt from a longer essay: Jesus, the Christ, tells us that the goodness and generosity of God knows no bounds. Jesus shows us that the proper response to this abundance is open hands; hands that are both ready to let go what has been given and to receive the new thing that God is offering. This requires faith. This requires confidence that God is walking with us into the unknown. And, I think, it requires an understanding of that ultimate truth that Christ came to proclaim that nothing good is ever lost.

Nothing truly alive ever dies. Whereas there is death in the Kingdom of God, there is also resurrection. All that is good adds to the measure of our lives. It shapes our being and transforms our soul and that is not transitory, but eternal. We never loose those we love. They travel with us no matter the distance between us.

The work of Christ did not finish when Jesus was crucified. It did not finish when he ascended into heaven. Instead, it burst forth like a milkweed pod in fall, scattering seeds as far as the wind blows. And those seeds took root and produced a harvest that encircles the world today. Without farewells this work could never have begun. Without farewells this work cannot continue.

Long ago a friend said to me, as I said “good-bye” to him, “I will miss you, but I know you signed up long ago to be a pilgrim.” Those words were powerful. We journey with Christ, but the road is his. We have each other for a time until each takes their own appointed path. So, I am grateful. Grateful for those who have traveled with me, for those remaining and for those, yet unknown, whom Christ will call to join us. And grateful, most of all, for the Creator who fills my life with abundance and lets no good thing fall to the ground.