Mtr Taylor Devine

Dear Friends,

"For I do hope to see you on my journey and to be sent on by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a little while." - Romans 15:24

The openings and closings of Paul's letters are full of meaning. Squished into Chapters 15 and 16 of the letter to the Romans, Paul lets the community know they are doing well, that because they are doing so well he has had to prioritize his travels and hasn't seen them though he has wanted to, but en route to taking the gathered money to Jerusalem and en brought to Spain, he show be able to swing by. In the opening and closings of his Epistles we catch a glimpse of what Paul is getting at, an overstated apology, a long reminder of where he stands, these let us know about the community to which he's writing, and how he is approaching them.

The line "and to be sent on by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a little while" catches me off guard. It seems to speak of longing, of time-constraints, of reality setting in. Paul's visit will be short, meaningful, and the relationships are strong enough for the visit to end with a blessing and send off when the time comes. It's kind of lovely, normal moments when God's grace is extended through channels of the ordinary, Christians trying to welcome.

In a harried moment, getting from point x to points y and z, Paul looks forward to fellowship, company, support. Written in 1934, her examples are a bit dated, but Evelyn Underhill's claim holds,

"It is in the midst of time, with the clock ticking, the engagement-book bristling, the tube running a two-minute service, and every new edition of the paper recording some new movement, new sin, new sorrow of the restless world, that we have to find and live that eternal life, which consists in the disclosure of the Divine Charity. We are to bring forth the "fruits of the Spirit" here and now, enmeshed as we are in the complex anxieties of our material and emotional life; ever holding tight to the deep tranquility of the Unchanging God who comes to us in the "sacrament of the present moment," and meeting and receiving Him there with gratitude, however baffling the outward form of that sacrament may be." (p. 108)

It is in the midst of the to and fro, or the stuck-in-place, that we may catch a glimpse of the world to come, even as it remains beyond our understanding. And it is in the midst of the here and now that we are held in the palm of God's hand and presence.

In Christ,
Taylor