The Story of the Ascension
Once upon a time, there was a man considered by all to be anything but ordinary. He was “born from above.” Above us is the sky and to the sky there is no measure. Such was his nature. To be with him was like standing near the edge of a deep, vast canyon. You were more likely to fall into him than to trace his origins. He was best described as born from above.
When you bring with you that much love, you change lives. And when you change lives, you change communities, and when communities change the world begins to follow, and those who prefer the world as it is, because it serves them well, they become fearful and upset and can be mean, even murderous, in order to keep things as they are.
Some of these brothers and sisters of ours took hold of him and found a way to convict him of a crime punishable by death. The man from above allowed this to happen, which made it obvious he was born from above, made of the same infinite substance from above, like the sky to which there is no end.
Days after he was dead and buried, the man from above was back. He was changed and yet was the same, the same enough to assure everyone that death, frightful as it seems, is of little consequence. The man from above was still the man from above.
After making the power of death look powerless and a tad ridiculous, the man from above ascended into the sky, to the place above which is without beginning or end, some call it heaven.
He brought a taste of heaven to the world, then returned there, but not before making a promise to all: the man from above said that there would, after his departure, come a Spirit from above, that would be accessible to all, and enable all to be born from above.
Imagine not one person, but several persons, not several persons, but a community of persons, all born from above, people who got a taste of heaven from the man above, now each of them, through the gift of the Spirit, born from above, and bringing heaven to earth, each in their own way.
The man from above ascended into heaven, returned from whence he came, and promising to send forth all we need to live just as he lived, to live as people born from above, fearless of death, because we may, again, be one with a love that cannot be measured, a love so infinitely patient, kind, and plenteous that it softens and makes pure whatever it touches. It brings heaven to earth, it brings what is above to what is below.
They were sad to say goodbye to the man from above on that day he ascended into heaven. But not sad for long, because when someone you love dies, their presence comes to be with you more than ever before. The man from above came to be with them like never before, and now there are, in our very midst, countless people born from above, who bring heaven to earth, by simply being who they are.
