It is a joy to learn and discover new things everyday even as I grow older. And as every new day dawns, I see subtle changes happening in me. I used to live my life in minutes and hours, in days and years. Now, I live my life in moments and memories. I can recall vividly and in surprising details things and events from my past. But I often have a hard time trying to remember what I did yesterday or even just an hour ago. (Actually, I was asleep.) In my younger years, tomorrow would not come soon enough for me. The future always took so long in coming, specially when I was waiting for Christmas or my birthday or I was looking forward to an important or exciting event. Today, the future comes even before I am done with living out today. I wish I could slow down the coming of tomorrow.
These days, the past and the future all seemed jumbled up and blended into today. I have a growing feeling of everything somehow coming together, converging into some reality. I have a vague feeling of being familiar with this reality but at the same time wondering what it is all about. It is like coming to the end of a beautiful novel and all the loose ends are being tied up one by one, all the conflicts coming to a resolution. Yet, there is the exhilarating feeling that there might yet be another denouement just around the corner, another unexpected twist, a surprise ending perhaps. I am living through truly exciting times.
I imagine the apostles and disciples during the last days of Jesus on earth. The last few days have been a roller coaster ride for them: the passion, the crucifixion, the empty tomb and the resurrection. Now, he is about to go back to the Father. They are starting to feel lost again. He says he is the Way. They are starting to feel that what they have been through was nothing but an illusion, perhaps even a lie. He says he is the Truth. They are starting to fear for their lives again; with Jesus gone, the Jews could very well come after them (and they will.) He say he is Life.
What comforting words to hear at the end of any story.
Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’
John 14:1-6