{"id":19142,"date":"2022-04-20T06:15:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-20T05:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailchi.mp\/urc\/urc-daily-devotionwednesday-20-april-2022"},"modified":"2022-04-20T06:15:00","modified_gmt":"2022-04-20T05:15:00","slug":"urc-daily-devotion-wednesday-20-april-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trinitywimbledon.org\/index.php\/urc-daily-devotion-wednesday-20-april-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"URC Daily Devotion\u00a0Wednesday 20 April 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wednesday 20 April 2022   Easter Wednesday<\/strong>
 <\/p>\n

St Luke 24: 50 – 53<\/strong><\/p>\n

Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.  And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy;  and they were continually in the temple blessing God.<\/p>\n

Reflection<\/strong><\/p>\n

If the world is back to anything approaching normal when you are reading this, I\u2019ll be in Australia.  My son and his wife live over there and, during lockdown, they had a daughter. Of course, we didn\u2019t get the chance to visit so we had to make do with video calls. We\u2019ve watched her successfully navigate her first year remotely.  At the time of writing, we\u2019ve just been told that, if our planned trip for next Spring goes ahead as planned, we\u2019ll meet another grandchild who will, God willing, have arrived by then!
 
It\u2019ll be tough to leave, but leave we must. And they\u2019ll give us a lift to the airport and we\u2019ll try and put a brave face on it knowing that it might be a few years before we get the chance to visit them again.
How different from Jesus\u2019 disciples who saw him lifted into Heaven and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy. I wonder if they were putting a brave face on the situation, too? Or maybe they were genuinely overjoyed at the time they\u2019d had together with Jesus and didn\u2019t worry about whether or not they might see him again?
Shakespeare got it right when he wrote \u201cParting is such sweet sorrow.\u201d We give thanks for the time we had, and look forward to the time yet to come. Don\u2019t we?<\/p>\n

Prayer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Loving God
We thank you for the good times we have with friends and family.
We pray for all travellers, and those they leave behind.
Amen.
 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wednesday 20 April 2022   Easter Wednesday  St Luke 24: 50 – 53 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.  And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great … <\/p>\n

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