For the last two or three months very often I\u2019ve been electrically charged. I couldn\u2019t have noticed that unless I touched metal things. An instant discharge, although not dangerous, has always been a highly unpleasant experience. So unpleasant that I\u2019ve developed a weird custom of a slow and cautious touch, preparing myself mentally to stand the expected discharge. All in vain \u2013 it\u2019s still similarly unpleasant. That is the dark side of electricity, and it can be much worse. From time to time we learn about someone killed or burnt alive by high voltage. \u2018Electric chair\u2019 certainly isn\u2019t the most fashionable and desirable piece of home furniture, however still on offer in few states in the USA. Electricity can be fatally dangerous.<\/p>\n
That dangerous thing, electricity, is useless unless it\u2019s being processed. But when it happens, that dangerous thing, electricity, becomes something providing comfort, security and somehow, happiness. It keeps our homes warm and bright, it keeps our food fresh or allows us to cook it, it drives our means of communication\u2026 The list is virtually infinite. But \u2013 let me repeat that \u2013 it must be processed in order to make it useful.<\/p>\n
Those rather long biblical readings we\u2019ve just listened to have something in common: they promise consolation provided by God. When do we need to be comforted? The answer is obvious: surely when we are unhappy. Those readings reflect a more general truth about our lives, and that truth isn\u2019t particularly pleasant. God doesn\u2019t offer us a cheap consolation with a tap on our shoulder and words: \u2018it\u2019s going to be all right.\u2019 God offers us a way of processing our everyday anxieties, problems, frustrations; turning all those unpleasant experiences and moments into something valuable. The resurrection of Christ shows us that this is possible. Surely the scenes of his passion and death quenched all hope in his friends\u2019 hearts; there was nothing left when his dead body was buried. All that hectic commotion in the morning of the resurrection was about finding the dead body that disappeared from the tomb.<\/p>\n
But Jesus managed to process that lethal bite of death into life and light. Those who follow him in faith are not freed from all difficulties and unpleasantness of everyday life. But all of that is processed and turned into something valuable. Thanks to Jesus\u2019 resurrection that dangerous thing, life, can turn out to be something pleasant and enjoyable, reaching even beyond our death.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For the last two or three months very often I\u2019ve been electrically charged. I couldn\u2019t have noticed that unless I touched metal things. An instant discharge, although not dangerous, has always been a highly unpleasant experience. So unpleasant that I\u2019ve developed a weird custom of a slow and cautious touch, preparing myself mentally to stand the expected discharge. All in vain \u2013 it\u2019s still similarly unpleasant. That is the dark side of electricity, and it can be much worse. From time to time we learn about someone killed or burnt alive by high voltage. \u2018Electric chair\u2019 certainly isn\u2019t the most fashionable and desirable piece of home furniture, however still on offer in few states in the USA. Electricity can be fatally dangerous. That dangerous thing, electricity, is useless unless it\u2019s being processed. But when it happens, that dangerous thing, electricity, becomes something providing comfort, security and somehow, happiness. It keeps our homes warm and bright, it keeps our food fresh or allows us to cook it, it drives our means of communication\u2026 The list is virtually infinite. But \u2013 let me repeat that \u2013 it must be processed in order to make it useful. Those rather long biblical readings we\u2019ve just listened to have something in common: they promise consolation provided by God. When do we need to be comforted? The answer is obvious: surely when we are unhappy. Those readings reflect a more general truth about our lives, and that truth isn\u2019t particularly pleasant. God doesn\u2019t offer us a cheap consolation with a tap on our shoulder and words: \u2018it\u2019s going to be all right.\u2019 God offers us a way of processing our everyday anxieties, problems, frustrations; turning all those unpleasant experiences and moments into something valuable. The resurrection of Christ shows us that this is possible. Surely the scenes of his passion and death quenched all hope in his friends\u2019 hearts; there was nothing left when his dead body was buried. All that hectic commotion in the morning of the resurrection was about finding the dead body that disappeared from the tomb. But Jesus managed to process that lethal bite of death into life and light. Those who follow him in faith are not freed from all difficulties and unpleasantness of everyday life. But all of that is processed and turned into something valuable. Thanks to Jesus\u2019 resurrection that dangerous thing, life, can turn out to be something pleasant and enjoyable, reaching even beyond our death.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon","category-year-c"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}