May 21: Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter

Posted by Campus Ministry on Thursday, May 21, 2020 at 6:00 AM PDT

A child with pigtails covers their face in a game of peek-a-boo.

“A little while again and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me.” So Jesus tells us on this Thursday of the sixth week of Easter. As it happened, Jesus was speaking to his disciples just a little while before his arrest, passion, and crucifixion. As John tells it, Jesus was in fact predicting his own death and resurrection.

But when I first read this, without looking into the greater context, I thought perhaps it was the resurrected Jesus appearing to his disciples and predicting the second coming. Perhaps that says something about where my mind is currently, that I could more easily bring to mind the second coming and judgement day than I could the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior in all his glory.

Peek-a-boo. Peek-a-boo. Peek-a-boo.

Is peek-a-boo a culturally universal baby game? I think it probably is. I think somewhere in the recesses of my mind I still remember my loved ones playing that game with me—hiding their face behind their hands, then reappearing with a smile of pure joy. In many ways the state of my soul depends on that everlasting game of peek-a-boo—between me, my loved ones, and God.

My aunt of 45 is currently 6 ½ months pregnant with her first child. I am so happy for them. The happiness I feel about this future baby cousin is so simple and straightforward. It makes sense. Truly, it is so easy to see how it makes sense. While in many ways I fail to see Christ singing a new creation in my life, in this way it is so simple.

So what am I saying? What is Jesus saying?

Peek-a-boo.

Nate Ross, Class of 2021