Do not be afraid; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. (Matthew 10:26)

Today's reflection is by Cameron Partridge, Episcopal Chaplain at Boston University

 

This week the mystery of Malaysia Airlines flight 370 hangs heavy on our hearts. Where has this plane and its two hundred thirty-nine people gone?  Did it disintegrate in midair?  If so, where?  Why?

 

In this charged, tragic context, the Gospel of Matthew reminds us that loss in all its mystery is always held in an infinitely larger vessel.  The Paschal Mystery itself helps us perceive that vessel, even if through a glass darkly. The letter to the Colossians puts it this way:  “you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory” (Col 3:3-4).  

 

In these early days of Lent, I wonder might it mean for our lives – and particularly our losses – to be revealed as “hidden with Christ in God.”  In the here in now, in this wilderness where loss is an inevitable part of our landscape, this hiddenness can be a comfort.  We may indeed bury our sobs into the shoulder of One who has known infinite sorrow, knowing that all we have lived, loved, and lost is caught up into the very heart of God.

 

That revelation, that glory—whatever it might ultimately look like—is what allows me to live into Matthew’s invitation to be not afraid.