I love this! I was reading of the calling of the disciples today and my thoughts lingered on Judas and it evoked such sadness in me. What a blessing to look at my inbox many hours later and find this!
Oh my goodness, I'm so delighted to hear that this arrived at just the right time! Thank you for your kindness :) I feel the same way...Judas is such an incredibly tragic person, and in encountering a lot of artwork depicting him (by way of the research for St. Matthias), that tragedy really hit home. Somehow, spending more time with St. Matthias lessened that burden, though.
It is. I agree that there is an incredible sadness in it all, thinking of the waste of such a calling and a place by Jesus' side. I cannot comprehend it but I do like the idea that the place itself was not left fallow or ruined but reinvigorated by the Spirit. Matthew was left a terrible legacy and that place could have been impossible to fill with joy and enthusiasm but he was able to do so. Such a timely reminder for me. Kristin, with our Tom finally at university and choosing to have purpose in his life after 14 years of real pain and hellish circumstances, I do see that God can freshen those barren spots in lives. I have always held hope for Tom but his life seemed hopeless and ruined, even from my perspective. It wasn't and it isn't. From the deepest valley, God gave Tom fresh purpose and hope. We are still in a hot summer season here but it feels like the tentative burgeoning of spring for Tom. You talk about the frogs. I have a video of them in a wetland near my house after torrential rain on the weekend. They are very happy and loud!
I am just so grateful to hear that after a time of such hopelessness, Tom is finding his new pace - it is SO hard to overcome the inertia that pain tends to bring, and he's doing the hardest, bravest thing. You all are!
It is so interesting that his feast is at this time of year, when winter seems to pass and spring begins. I planted my onions and broad beans last week!
Thank you for this, as always. In my own Lenten writing yesterday, I took the opportunity to learn more about Matthias, someone I didn't know much about (and now I know I got Ethiopia/Aethiopia wrong in my own post!) I'm glad to be adding these new pages to my growing binder!
You're so kind, Justin - it's such a treat to get to be sharing in all of this alongside others. I also "met" Matthias through the work for this post, and it's a humbling reminder of how often I skim over names without really considering who they are.
Ancient geography is SO tricky! I had to go deep down the rabbithole for this one.
I'm looking forward to catching up on my reading and enjoying your post!
I love this! I was reading of the calling of the disciples today and my thoughts lingered on Judas and it evoked such sadness in me. What a blessing to look at my inbox many hours later and find this!
Oh my goodness, I'm so delighted to hear that this arrived at just the right time! Thank you for your kindness :) I feel the same way...Judas is such an incredibly tragic person, and in encountering a lot of artwork depicting him (by way of the research for St. Matthias), that tragedy really hit home. Somehow, spending more time with St. Matthias lessened that burden, though.
It is. I agree that there is an incredible sadness in it all, thinking of the waste of such a calling and a place by Jesus' side. I cannot comprehend it but I do like the idea that the place itself was not left fallow or ruined but reinvigorated by the Spirit. Matthew was left a terrible legacy and that place could have been impossible to fill with joy and enthusiasm but he was able to do so. Such a timely reminder for me. Kristin, with our Tom finally at university and choosing to have purpose in his life after 14 years of real pain and hellish circumstances, I do see that God can freshen those barren spots in lives. I have always held hope for Tom but his life seemed hopeless and ruined, even from my perspective. It wasn't and it isn't. From the deepest valley, God gave Tom fresh purpose and hope. We are still in a hot summer season here but it feels like the tentative burgeoning of spring for Tom. You talk about the frogs. I have a video of them in a wetland near my house after torrential rain on the weekend. They are very happy and loud!
I am just so grateful to hear that after a time of such hopelessness, Tom is finding his new pace - it is SO hard to overcome the inertia that pain tends to bring, and he's doing the hardest, bravest thing. You all are!
It is so interesting that his feast is at this time of year, when winter seems to pass and spring begins. I planted my onions and broad beans last week!
Doesn't it seem so fitting?! We're finally getting some pockets of planting time here, and it's truly so refreshing, too.
Thank you for this, as always. In my own Lenten writing yesterday, I took the opportunity to learn more about Matthias, someone I didn't know much about (and now I know I got Ethiopia/Aethiopia wrong in my own post!) I'm glad to be adding these new pages to my growing binder!
You're so kind, Justin - it's such a treat to get to be sharing in all of this alongside others. I also "met" Matthias through the work for this post, and it's a humbling reminder of how often I skim over names without really considering who they are.
Ancient geography is SO tricky! I had to go deep down the rabbithole for this one.
I'm looking forward to catching up on my reading and enjoying your post!