Tower and Town, June 2021 (view the full edition)Clergy Letter‘God has gone up with a shout.’ Psalm 47:5 Thursday, 13 May was the Feast of the Ascension and my words in this Clergy Letter reflect that often-forgotten occasion. At Marlborough College we produced a video of a Compline service marking the day, and this is available to be enjoyed on our website https://www.marlboroughcollege.org/compline-service/ It must have been heart-breaking for Jesus to have had to leave the disciples for a second time after his 40 days of resurrected presence after Easter – dining with them, talking with them, continuing to teach them, sharing laughs no doubt about the ‘old times’ around Galilee. And yet 40 days later, ‘out as far as Bethany’, Jesus lifts up his hands, blesses them for a final time, and is ‘carried up into heaven.’ What can we say about the Ascension that might be of practical use in our daily and spiritual lives? The Ascension is the Apotheosis of Jesus. Apotheosis means, ‘making divine’. The ‘culmination or climax’. The ‘ideal example’. It is the ‘highest point in the development of something.’ So, 40 days after his resurrection, the human personhood of Jesus reaches its final and most glorious realisation. Jesus is most what he always has been at the Ascension – the Son of God, now fully realised and accomplished, having defeated death itself. The Good News about the word Apotheosis is that we can have one too! We look forward to that time when we are revealed to the world at the top of our game, as our very best selves, full of the life and purpose that God has offered, now fully realised and accomplished. Who you are meant to be ultimately may be revealed to you and to others slowly, over time, but there will be a time when your identity and special purpose is most obvious in whatever will be your greatest accomplishment. And there will be something for us all. We are all bound for Higher Glory. Mark Twain wrote: ‘The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.’ The Ascension reminds us to seek higher values, to pursue more noble truths, to raise our arms to the skies even as our feet remain planted on the ground. To anticipate our 15 minutes of fame. The German Philosopher, Schleiermacher, wrote of ‘God Consciousness’, or ‘Universal Consciousnesses’ as something that we collectively share, and that consciousness is the chief pursuit of all religion. For Jesus, his ‘God Consciousness’, his awareness of the Father, was most profound at his Ascension, but we can and do sense God all the time. The point is we are conscious of the Universe we inhabit, and at our Apotheosis we know most fully the part we play in the Cosmic Drama. Celebrate your birthday by all means, but never forget the day ‘you found out why’. Tim Novis |