Many magnificent bubbles have come and gone on this ancestral hillside in 40 years. I’ve seen them with my own eyes.
The best days for bubbles are the humid ones, languorous summer days with a gentle breeze rising from the south. A moist Gulf airmass passes through the wand to stretch and fill the soapy film, while somehow also contributing to its integrity: The magic surely lasts a bit longer on such days than when conditions are less optimal.
These things are relative, of course.
Bubbles inevitably burst.
They’re here for a moment, spreading their joy, delighting the crowd. And then they’re gone.
A milestone birthday celebration underscores the poignancy of the moment. When dozens of friends and relatives gather to celebrate the life of Uncle Jim, stories inevitably are told and fond memories resurfaced – shining, shimmering, delighting all within earshot … like bubbles floating on the breeze.
Of course, Uncle Jim is gone, as are his siblings and parents – the people who worked this land for decades, who provided its spine and marrow. Their blood, sweat and tears are precisely what give us something to celebrate here on this ancestral hillside. We are right to honor his legacy, and theirs. It is good and just to remember them, rejoice in them.
Good, too, to take note of what happens when you try to grasp a bubble … cling to it. That’s along the lines of what Jesus seems to be teaching us in this week’s gospel, is it not? His words sound quite harsh at first:
“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of Me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me…”
We would do well, though, to ponder the invitation that follows on this seemingly harsh teaching:
“…whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”
The things of this world come and go. And all the people in it – they too pass away like bubbles floating on a summer breeze. But in Christ, we find something more substantial to cling to. St. Paul knew it – as did all the holy men and women who preceded us, and shared with us their lives of faith:
If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him.
Let us pause now…to recall that we are in the presence of the Holy & Merciful One.
IHS
With Us Still 