In a Little While

Julie Pudlas – Pastoral Intern

John 16:16-18

In a little while, summer days turn to winter, and the trees lie barren. Frost glistens where wildflowers once bloomed. Days grow shorter, and sometimes time does too. The snow lines push lower and the darkness encroaches. A fresh blanket of snow brings subdued silence as we migrate inside, wherever the warmth is found. Not long ago, the Light touched everything, and hues of pink and red and gold danced across the sky, long into the evening. It seems just like yesterday, the Light was here, among us.

In a little while, creation unfolds to the dawn of a new spring. Buds speak of new life, of beauty at hand, of a crescendo still to come. In a little while, is really not so very far away. Because in the hands of the Eternal Infinite One, time is both as temporary as dust and yet as certain as the coming of spring. In the hands of the Conductor, a symphony of seasons culminates in His return. Look up, He’s on the horizon, just beyond the snow line! In a little while, and then for all the whiles to come, you will see Him and behold Him and be with Him! In a little while.

“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” John 16:16-18

We praise you Lord for the future JOY that awaits us when we will see you ‘after a little while’. We are confident that you will return.

Like the disciples, we are often caught up in what you mean by ‘a little while’. Time is a commodity we spend flippantly, as though you aren’t really returning soon and very soon.

We’re tempted to spend much of it trying to figure out the ‘when’ of your return, and squander the time in front of us during this season of anticipation. Forgive us, Lord.

May eternity cast light on our moments today. You are coming ‘in a little while!’ Help us to discern how we should spend our days.