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In
the readings on the Feast of the Ascension, the Gospels and Acts both provide an
insight into what happened when Jesus ascended into heaven, leaving his apostles
to continue his work. What a great image: the apostles standing on a hillside
looking up in the heavens as he returns to Heaven. When I ponder this passage, I
always wonder what they were thinking as they stood there. They had heard him
preach and had seen his miracles and then found themselves without him, but
rather with a mandate: “Go
into the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.”
Have you ever thought how daunting that task must have been to them? We live in
a time and place where information is sent around the world in a matter of
seconds. There is hardly a corner of the earth where Christianity has not been
preached in some regard. But as we sit here looking back, we have the benefit of
two centuries of missionary activity, theological development and millions of
Christians who preached the Gospel after them. They hadn’t even
received the Holy Spirit yet. So there they stand looking upwards and, I expect,
wondering where to begin.
That
experience of overwhelming which comes when we face a tremendous task is one
that all of us have likely experienced. Packing up to move, beginning a new
career or position, a new stage of life, we stand looking at the enormity of the
situation wondering how to start and if we will ever accomplish the task. This
problem can cover a variety of different parts of our lives — even the
spiritual life. There is sometimes a temptation to look at other people and
their spiritual gifts and wonder why we are not more like them. That idea is as
old as time itself. Who doesn’t want to have a stronger prayer life? Who
doesn’t have areas of their life that need some attention? Who wouldn’t
benefit from a few more silent moments for prayer throughout the day? And yet
day after day can pass and we find ourselves standing there, knowing what needs
to be done, and not knowing where to begin.
The
answer is: just begin. Don’t stand there looking at the sky — get started.
If you are not happy with your spiritual life, change for the better and start
today. It doesn’t have to start with a perfectly structured 3-hour a day
routine. Life-changing journeys are not begun and finished in a day. They are
made up of thousands of steps and may even include a fall or two before they are
over. But they do START. You can start as soon as you finish reading this
article, or later today, or tomorrow. Remember, the apostles didn’t change the
whole world in an afternoon. They began by going forth from that hillside and
preaching to the first people they saw. The secret to their success was that
they preached the Gospel daily and didn’t give up when some days were not as
successful, but kept at it. And most importantly, they stopped standing on that
hillside, looking to the heavens wondering how they could begin to do all that
Jesus had commanded them, and just started doing it.
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