Being Tethered

5^th Day Within the Octave of Christmas

(optional commemoration of Saint Thomas Becket, Bishop Martyr)

1 John 2:3-11

“This is the way we know that we are in union with him:

whoever claims to abide in him ought to walk just as he walked.”

I have been spending some time with my parents this Christmas.  My mother spends much of her time in bed as she is suffering from COPD and is tethered to a lifeline of oxygen.  The oxygen is new and seeing that green plastic ‘leash’ took me back when I first arrived.  In the hospital I see this life saving oxygen all the time.  But in a home…in the real world of a person’s life…it is startling. 

The fear of power outages, or a leak in the hose, or that my Dad won’t hear her call for help…all these things weigh heavy on her.   Joviality is scarce.

The first Letter of John loves the metaphor God is light.  But it might as well be God is breath…God is oxygen.  It is certainly so for my Mom who is literally tethered for life.  For me also.  To the extent that I want to abide in Christ…being tethered is a good idea:

to walk as he walked…

I walk with grace, confidence and ease 

knowing that I am never alone,

I am tethered to the Father

to walk where he walked…

I walk toward the suffering of others 

so as to participate in healing,

I push on through each of my own sufferings 

toward promised resurrection

to walk how he walked…

I walk with openness, grace, and ease

…at a pace willing to stop

To abide in Christ is a “with every breath I take” kind of life. 

My new visual cue is that green plastic tubing which sustains my mother’s life in this world.  But after I leave here, I’ll have to remember on my own!