"In this we see the gracious love of Jesus. He could not bear that for the rest of his life Peter would carry the guilt of those three denials. So three times he permits him to say publicly and proudly, 'I love you. You know everything. You know that I love you.' Peter has become a disciple. Now he is led to give everything away and follow the Lord."(R.Rohr "Radical Grace" p. 392)
Sometimes when I hit a roadblock or wall in my life I have to take the time to seek what the root cause of it is. Is it something outside of my control? Or is it more likely something that happened sometime in the past? Something that until it is reconciled or healed, I can never truly move forward.
The post resurrection story from the Gospel of John, shows us Peter having to work his way back, not so much into the good graces of Christ, but being able to not be stuck in his own guilt. Since he denied Jesus three times, he needs to say I love you three times, and then get moving again. Without that chance at reconciliation he may have never amounted to anything.
In the church calendar today is the last day of the year. The season of Advent begins. A season of preparation. It is now paralleled by the manic level of the secular Christmas and the beginning of the calender New Year. Perhaps this is a time to take a deeper look at what is really frustrating us. Where is that unhealed hurt that we could start to mend? Perhaps an interesting resolution for the coming year would be to finally deal with that issue, whatever it may be, that is stopping you from living fully.
Blessings,
Ed
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