On this past Good Friday, after returning from a simple service at an Episcopal Church that we’ve not visited before, I returned home in fast–changing weather. The skies were menacing, and rains were likely not far off. The daylight was cut short and the wind started to pick up.
The neighborhood was very quiet, quieter than usual. Not much seemed to be going on. I went inside and got settled. Just as I was going to sit down, we heard a loud knock and our Ring camera at the front door went off. It was late, so I checked the camera first and saw no one. Maybe it was an animal on the roof, we thought. Worse, maybe it was an animal up inside the crawl space (something we’ve had happen elsewhere before).
A little time passed, and it happened again. This time, the knock was even louder, seemingly more insistent, and it clearly was at the front door. Weird!
Once again, the security camera was triggered, but showed no one. So, I finally went to the door to check. Opening it, there was simply no one around. Everything seemed calm and so the mystery continued. Then, turning back, now facing the front door, all became clear.
We had hung up a wooden plaque on the door that said, “Happy Easter”!
Apparently, occasional strong gusts of wind shook the wooden plaque and it struck the door sounding like a quite purposeful knock. Ok, both of us felt a little foolish with our imaginations going so quickly to worse case scenarios: a prowling animal or someone playing a joke, or an unwanted salesperson. Nope. It was just the wind.
Or, was it?
Well, sure, it was caused by the wind moving a dense wooden sign. But, then again, I believe in synchronicity: Meaningful coincidences that, on their face, mean nothing more than the obvious but signify somehow a larger, invisible movement. I often say that I stopped believing in coincidences long ago. So, the timing of it all, the Good Friday Service and prayers of Compline with the rest of the Triduum ahead, all converged in my Heart with one significant result:
Yes, someone WAS knocking at the door. He’s been knocking for a long time and He will keep on knocking until the doors of my heart swing wide open with unhesitating welcome and Love!
It all sparked some quiet and prayerful meditation.
Now, at the moment of His death on the Cross, tradition has it that the Temple Veil, separating the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple where people gathered, was ripped in two, top to bottom (Matthew 27: 50-51a). No longer was there a divide between the prayerful and the place where God dwelt. No longer was the Holy of Holies open only to the High Priest. Heaven and Earth were One in Christ and, at His passing, we were joined with Him to the Father for all eternity!
Maundy Thursday is among my favorite Holy Days. It brings back the Cenacle where Jesus celebrated His Passover with the Apostles. He prepared, first, by washing their feet. He longed to celebrate this Passover with them and offered Himself in Loving service. Divine hospitality was henceforth the mark of one who follows the Path of Christ!
In the depiction of the Last Supper, Michelangelo interprets the moment immediately after Jesus predicts betrayal. He shows the Apostles clustered all together in groups of three. In one group, we see the full picture of our humanity, its grandeur and its frailty. We see Peter (the “Rock,” yet the one who would Deny Him three times), John (who swoons, a symbol of full devotion and love) and Judas Iscariot (with the spilt salt on the table in front of him, the betrayer). These frames of mind are part of us all. Jesus knows our hearts, and though we have our times of forgetfulness, doubt, distraction, anger and ego–driven motivations, His love is unconditional, and He expects us to love in precisely the same way!
So, yes, He was knocking at our door as He does every day. He is inviting our self-knowing beyond all fears, illusions, delusions and confusions. The signs of His calling to us are everywhere if we otake time to watch and listen for them.
In any event, I give thanks this Easter for the lesson of the Wind on Good Friday that asked me, quite pointedly, if I was Home!
© The Harried Mystic, 2019 and Br. Anton, TSSF. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.
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