Are we orphaned, or made to fly?

“I have become an orphan,” the woman said to her Pastor. The Pastor was more than a little taken aback by this statement from a woman in her late fifties some months after the death of her 80-plus-year-old mother.

The woman was sincerely distressed by the circumstances of realizing that she was the matriarch of the family, as the oldest member of her generation and was now required to fly without the safety net of her parents.

While we acknowledge, at least intellectually that life is circular, that there is a divine plan, that we, in due season (or not) are put in the place of the matriarch/patriarch in our family or origin, we are never quite ready for the reality which also signals that our lives are moving along on a path with a destination and a destiny.

So it was with the disciples following the resurrection.

But yet, the disciples, like us, know what the course of time takes. Jesus had prepared His disciples, telling them what the future held. He invested part of His earthly ministry in educating them, showing them, inspiring them and now the day had come. The disciples were now charged with bringing the Kingdom to fulfillment by living the faith, establishing churches throughout the world, of being the ones who spoke for the resurrected Jesus in various situations. The time had come and they were soundly ejected from the “nest,” just as the mother bird kicks the chicks out of the nest to fly or not after having been taught, shown….

In the Gospel we read that the disciples chose not to get on with their tasks immediately and instead went fishing but Jesus was to appear to them once again as the resurrected Lord to get them back on track. (Jn. 21)

In this post-Easter time, we are likewise charged to get on with the program. We have learned what is expected: how to accomplish our tasks, how to be, where to go, and been blessed with the divine assurances, “greater things than I have done, you will do,” (Jn. 14) “with God all things are possible,” (Mt. 19) and “I am with you always even to the very end of the age.” (Mt. 28)

These weeks after Easter are a transition time — time for us to grow up and assume our rightful place in the divine plan. It is time for us to live the faith, not just talk about it. It is time for us to reach out to others in Jesus’ name; it is time to be about being who were created to be.

It is a time of transition. Will we assume our rightful place, going where The Lord would have us to go, doing what The Lord commands, being the person that The Lord created us to be?

It is a time of transition from being fed to feeding, from being served to serving.

You are not orphaned. Jesus is as close as a prayer. But it is now our time to step up.

Life is full of transitions, and a time has come for a transition in this writer’s life. After more than 16 years at Founders Congregational Church, I am retiring from my second career and seeking a less intensive third career path as The Lord leads.

It has been my honor to write these weekly columns for more than 10 years. I pray they have provided you with insights and comfort. May the Lord’s richest blessings be with you all.