Humanity has the tendency to cling to that which has already passed. We see this in our everyday lives. People hold to past accomplishments, claiming that it redeems them in the present. Some clasp to past failures, saying that nothing can make the future worthwhile with what has already transpired. Others clutch to defunct political ideologies, scientific findings, or toxic relationships in desperate attempts to bring some meaning into the present. All such attempts fail, for they cannot encapsulate that which the present has to offer.
Faced with this reality, the only good question to ask is whether or not such clinging is worth the effort. I am afraid the answer is no. Such has been the case in my own life; the past cannot come forward to redeem the present, nor can it appear to condemn me. The only moment I am given is now.
This can be seen clearly in the eighth of the standard resurrection gospel readings for Matins in the Orthodox Church:
11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Saying this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rab-bo′ni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” 18 Mary Mag′dalene went and said to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her. (John 20:11-18).
I find it fascinating the Jesus tells Mary Magdalene not to hold him. This seems to make little sense; having thought Jesus was dead and now seeing him alive, it is only natural for her to want to hold and feel the one who had conquered death and granted life to humanity. But Christ is insistent: do not hold me. For Christ had foreseen something better; the granting of the Holy Spirit to humanity for our salvation. As the hymn for Pentecost states:
Blessed are You, O Christ our God, Who have shown the fishermen to be most wise by sending down upon them the Holy Spirit, and through them You have drawn the whole world into Your net. O Lover of Mankind, glory be to You!
It is this power and grace that allows us to continue in the faith and picks us up when it feels as if nothing else can be done. May God grant us to acquire the Holy Spirit for the salvation of the world.
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