Do you dream? It seems to me that many dreams are a combination of our memories and some random weird stuff that we can’t quite explain. I have a memory of my grandfather sitting in his armchair, and for many years after his death I had a recurring dream of him whizzing off into space in his armchair! I guess this dream was a mixture of a real memory together with a strange acknowledgement that he is now no longer with us on earth.
On Sunday we’ll be thinking about the ascension, a rather strange event in the Christian calendar, which isn’t as widely recognized as it once was. Perhaps the reason for this is that it comes across as more of a strange dream rather than a legitimate memory. The day marks Jesus’ ascension into heaven; Jesus disappears. “He was taken up before their very eyes,” Luke tells us, “and a cloud hid him from their sight” (Acts 1:9). Two angels then tell the disciples that Jesus was “taken into heaven” (Acts 1:11)
The ascension marks the end of Jesus as a man of history and takes “Christ” into the mystical realm. Almost as a dream. From this point on, we cannot fully define Christ; this “mystical” Christ is still “God in humanity” but is present in us all as “the body of Christ”. Christ is everywhere present, and so in Christ “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ” (Galations 3:28) Another name for this spiritual state is “The Universal Christ”, God incarnate within all of creation.
If you think all of that is a bit much to get your head around, next week we have Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the week after that is Trinity Sunday, which really is the stuff that dreams are made of….
I recently discovered a reflection on the Universal Christ by the Franciscan Priest, Richard Rohr, excerpts of which are below. You could say that this is a reflection on a reflection…
The Divine Mirror
A mirror receives and reflects back what it sees
It does not judge, adjust or write commentary
We are the ones who do that
A mirror simply reveals
And invites responsibility
A mirror, the sun and God are all the same
They are all there, fully shining forth,
Their very nature is light, love and infinite giving
You can’t offend them or make them stop shining
You can only choose to stop receiving and enjoying
As soon as you look, you will see they are there!
And fully radiating
And always have been
One day, the mirror will reflect in both directions
And we will see over there what was allowed in here
This is full access seeing – and being seen:
Most have named it “heaven”
And it begins now
Let this Divine Mirror fully receive you
All of you
Excerpts from “The Divine Mirror”, from the book “The Universal Christ” by Richard Rohr
