Eternity

In the Cohn Brother’s movie A Serious Man, the protagonist Larry sits across from a learned rabbi in a moment of despair and utters, “But what does it all mean?” While discussing the movie in our Encountering God class brought no definitive answers, allow me to hold this question before us again this morning—not as a moment of despair, but rather on this occasion of celebration and thanksgiving. It turns out, the question may not only be relevant, but have an answer.

The Presbyterian minister and author Frederick Buechner offers the idea that there are certain events in our lives – which bring the past, present, and future into contact with one another – events which provide a glimpse of our connectedness to each other and God. He says, “As human beings we know time as a passing of unrepeatable events in the course of which everything passes away including ourselves. … We also know occasions when we stand outside the passing of events and glimpse their meaning. Sometimes an event occurs in our lives (… some event of unusual beauty, pain, or joy) through which we can catch a glimpse of what our lives are all about and maybe even what life itself is all about, and this glimpse of what ‘it’s all about’ involves not just the present, but the past and the future too.”* Whether you are here this morning as a parent or a member of the Class of 2018, I wonder if this is such an occasion.

Now this passing of time is perhaps no more profound than in the role of a parent or guardian where unconditional love and deep dedication to that child beside you keeps evolving and changing and until eventually you come face to face with a young adult who you helped land softly in the world some seventeen or eighteen years ago.

But it is not just you, as parents, who are impacted by such moments. We as teachers and coaches experience these little glimpses of meaning as well. Each year as a faculty, we stay behind and look to the work ahead, while students grow older and each, in their own time, spread their wings and fly away. At the end of a school year, and on this weekend in particular, it reminds us what teaching is about when it becomes a calling. And like parents we are filled with pride and love for your sons.

And then there is you, the Form VI senior. You have been on this well-paved path growing taller, getting smarter, gathering new experiences, and taking on new responsibilities all while moving towards some type of threshold, and today you might start to see and feel things like those doors and steps at the Cathedral differently. Tomorrow you are going to graduate from St. Albans School, and your place in this community will be different. And my guess is, for many of you, that is both exciting and scary, and that’s okay. But more importantly this weekend places you at a moment that meets up with both the future and the past. But pay attention to what you feel and hear. Maybe on this occasion familiar words might begin to sound different—for example, words like “Men of the future stand and watch each fleeting hour.”

So what is it all about? What is it any of us might glimpse by stepping outside of this moment?

As a possibility, consider the reading from John’s gospel which takes place as Jesus prepares to leave his community of followers. His identity with them is about to change forever. And the discourse between Jesus and his disciples emphasizes the power love has of connecting us to each other. More importantly, if attention and practice are given to living with an eye towards love, the result will be joy—in the sense that our life can become about something that reaches backwards and stretches forward beyond what we know in any single moment. Rather we get glimpses of what it is all about, or as the gospel writer suggests, we come to abide in the love that surrounds our encounters with each other and God.

And it is in this connection that things stand outside of time. They become eternal. And like God, when things are eternal, they can also be sacred.

Think about it: With the help of traditions and ritual, we aim to have this morning be sacred. And if we are successful, it allows us to pause and have a glimpse of what it may all be about. This space makes it sacred, the religious words and prayers and music make it scared, but most of all what makes this occasion sacred is our gathering in this shared endeavor.

Not to put you back in Encountering God class boys, but if you remember, the ritual meal around this altar becomes sacred, not because of Rev. Humphrey or me saying a prayer with conviction or by moving our hands with specific holy gestures. It becomes sacred because we are all here together. And because it involves not just the present, but the past and the future too – both in our own lives and with God.

Like Moses’ encounter at the burning bush, if we open ourselves such that we stand outside the normal course of things, and instead prepare to stand on holy ground—there is a possibility of catching a glimpse about what it all means—as parents, as teachers, as a young adult and most profoundly as classmates with one another.

So don’t be afraid to step outside of poignant moments or to pause at the thresholds because there will be sacred elements to them. With silence and humility, I believe these moments present themselves. And if it feels like too much to catch a glimpse—then cherish them, and return to them quietly and curiously to see if there is anything there for you. Remember that while Moses is celebrated in the tradition for his faithfulness and loyalty to God; “What it was all about” didn’t reveal itself to him all at once. It was in the slow work of God that Moses came to find his way with people, his God, and the world before him.

So what does it all mean, rabbi?

Well, here is my humble attempt at an answer for you. What is most sacred about this occasion is the love that abounds for each of you and because of you. Love is what your parents have been using to care for you and love is what will sustain you leaving this community to try new things. And love is so strong that it can keep you connected to each other, to us and to God. And above all things, it is love that helps us catch a glimpse of what it’s all about. Amen.

June 8, 2018

*Buechner, Frederick. Wishful Thinking: A Seeker’s ABC (Revised and Expanded). HarperCollins, 1993.