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The Rest of the Story
Joe Killian • May 25, 2018
The oncologist had gone to examine the blood samples I had given upon arriving at his office. The 20 minutes that Maria and I sat waiting seemed like an eternity. He finally returned and sat down on his wheeled stool without making eye contact which caused no small amount of alarm. The doctor had a message for us that he did not seem in a hurry to share. We braced for the bad news. Eventually, he looked up at our concerned faces and immediately apologized. His hesitation came, not from what he could tell us, but what he could not. I didn't have cancer but he could not tell me what was causing my seriously debilitating symptoms. In this week's Gospel Jesus holds back some of His news.
Jesus said to his disciples: "When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.
"I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you." John 15:26-27, 16:12-15
Jesus is sharing these words with His disciples on the night He was arrested. They have no idea what awaits Him and themselves in the coming days. The essence of Jesus' message is that the things that are about to happen are necessary. They are not yet ready to hear the bad news. He does tell them the good news. In time His Spirit will come in truth. Jesus clearly states that the Holy Spirit will "declare" what is to come. In that time they will come to understand why everything happened the way it did.
With hindsight, we know that Jesus' promise of the Spirit brings the ability and courage to "declare" His Good News to the world. But the disciples were hearing these words without knowing the rest of the story. They had to wait, just as Maria and I awaited the news from the doctor. The uncertainty was deeply disconcerting. While uncertainty is a part of our journey with God we are blessed to know the rest of the story. Receive the Good News and declare it with the confidence that His Spirit brings. As for me, I am healthy! But you'll have to stay tuned to the Weekly Journey to hear the rest of the story!
The story continues...I'm still working on the pondless waterfall in our front yard. I shared this project with you two weeks ago in Playin' In the Dirt. Since then I've had to rework sections of the stream three different times because we were losing too much water. I am now an expert on evaporation rates and excessive splash, two causes of water loss. This morning I tore the whole thing apart and I'm starting over.
Have you ever watched DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda? I stumbled across it recently and thoroughly enjoyed Jack Black's performance as a bumbling, noodle selling, kung fu enthusiast, giant panda named P o. Set in ancient China, it is more than a humorous slapstick comedy. The core message of the story jumped out at me as I have been focusing recently on the concept of being. Po is shockingly identified as the Dragon Warrior and he reluctantly enters training. The goal of the training is to receive the Dragon Scroll, which is believed to hold the secret to limitless power. Now I don't want to spoil the big reveal but I will say that what Po realizes is the same as what I speak to in the concept of being and authentic identity. So, where do we find the secret to our "power?" I praise You, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works! My very self You know. Psalm 139:14 God knows it; and we must seek Him with all of our hearts in order to find it. As it was in the movie, the answer is stunningly simple. Our authentic identity is already within us. The challenge for Po in the movie was in seeing himself accurately and not the way others saw him. Even his teacher scoffed at the idea that Po was anything more than an underachieving dreamer who overate when he was anxious. Po's problems are rooted in the fact that he believes the lie of his false identity much more than he does his authentic one. Is it possible that you do the same? Who could have imagined that beneath all of Po's girth lived the Dragon Warrior? What's hidden from view in you? Seek God for understanding as to who He created you to be. Spoiler Alert: the secret of your limitless power is already in you. God placed it there and He wants you to be who He authentically created you to be.
Maria and I have been playing in the dirt a lot recently. First we replaced our French drain and then we embarked on a creative project intended to change the entire look of our front yard. My brother Jeffrey and I installed a new front step.
