Thoughts on a Brilliant Day

Today was brilliant. Literally. Bright blue sky. Bright sun. The four of us spent quite a bit of it at the zoo, so that was brilliant too. I love the zoo. Today, we saw four 10-month old tigers playing. Brilliant.

This morning I was reading in John. Another brilliant part of my day. I always read really slowly toward the end of each gospel. I start finding reasons to slow down. For some reason, I always dread the gospel ending. It's like coming to the end of a good book. Satisfying, but disappointing. I'm always that way with the gospels. I want more. Anyway, I was reading John.....slowly. I'm in the middle of the part where it's just down to Jesus and his disciples. Jesus is headed toward the darkest imaginable event--total separation from the Father and unprecedented divine wrath--and he's sharing these last few hours with his still rather clueless disciples. Notice, I didn't say they didn't love him--I just said they were rather clueless. These guys were crazy about him. None of them were spending Passover with family, it was just Guys' Night style Passover.

So, Jesus says a lot of things to them. Every time I get to this part in John, I feel like I'm eavesdropping. It's all so personal. It's last words. Jesus is still investing in, loving on, teaching these guys in spite of what is headed his way. He's crazy about them too.

This morning, as I slowly read far fewer verses that I was capable of (just to stretch it out), I realized how much I want to invest in, love on, teach my boys--in spite of dark days. I want to serve and love Brian in spite of dark days. Jesus didn't ask them to wait until he was in a better mood or in an easier time. He just loved them. No excuses. These few chapters in John are magical to me. It's one of the places where I see Jesus the most clearly in all the Bible and one of the places that makes me most want to be like him.