This, Too, Shall Pass

 

John Shuck

First Presbyterian Church

Elizabethton, TN

 

September 4, 2005

Labor Day Weekend

 

 

Jesus used to recommend, “Be passersby.”

--Thomas 42

 

 

Several years ago for my parents’ 50^th wedding anniversary, I put together a genealogy book tracing my parents’ family trees. I gathered a number of great finds. One of these finds was my father’s grandmother’s autograph book. The dates of the autographs in the book were around 1876-1877. She was a young woman and by the autographs that she had gathered from family members it appeared that she was about to take a long trip from Minnesota to California. She had already been to Lockport, NY and seen relatives there.

 

Now, she was going west. The autographs contained many well-wishes and some rhymes typical of the 19^th century. Her father offered a wistful comment, suggesting that if he didn’t see her again in this life they would meet on the other side. Apparently a trip by a young woman alone from Minnesota to California was not taken lightly in 1876. Remember, it was in June of that year that Custer stood his last.

 

Her mother (my great-great grandmother) signed the book as well. Her comment was the most curious. She wrote simply: “This, too, shall pass.” --Mother.

 

I wonder what situation prompted that truism. “This, too, shall pass.”

 

Maybe there was a struggle or a burden in her life.

Perhaps the struggle was well-known—

Or perhaps a secret between mother and daughter.

Maybe the trip itself or the reason for it was the burden.

Perhaps it was a hope that her daughter might get over being adventuresome.

It could have been anything.

 

But whatever the situation, her mother’s comment was absolutely true.

 

Whatever it was, it did pass. Everything does.

 

Today we are reflecting on the shortest teaching attributed to Jesus.

 

“Be passersby.”

The Jesus Seminar spent a great deal of time debating these two words. The Jesus Seminar evaluated all of the sayings and deeds attributed to Jesus in the canonical and extra-canonical gospels in attempt to determine if they went back to Jesus or were a creation of the communities that admired him.

 

This particular saying, “Be passersby” is found only in the Gospel of Thomas. The Gospel of Thomas is known by some as a “not ready for prime time gospel.” It didn’t make the cut into the orthodox canon.

 

Many scholars believe that the Gospel of Thomas is contemporary with the other gospels. The Thomas took Jesus in a different direction.

 

The debate over “Be Passersby” was whether or not this teaching went back to Jesus or was a Thomas creation.

 

The Seminar was divided.

 

Those who pushed for a gray or black vote (that is probably not or definitely not Jesus) said this saying is similar to other world-denying sayings in Thomas such as saying 21 where Jesus is reported to have said: “As for you, then, be on guard against the world.”

This statement reflects the Thomas community’s disparagement of earthly life.

 

Those who pushed for a red or pink vote (that is definitely or probably Jesus) said that this saying reflects not a command to reject the world or to be detached from its pleasures, but a reflection of his and his followers itinerancy—and therefore freedom to consort with tax collectors, sinners and other marginalized people.

 

The vote came down and it was a tie. Twenty percent voted red, thirty percent voted pink, another thirty percent voted gray, and twenty percent voted black. In the case of a tie, the seminar’s rules dictate caution. The phrase “Be passersby” was officially designated gray which means “probably not” Jesus.

 

If I had been there and had an opportunity to vote, I would have voted pink—maybe even reddish pink. I think it does sound a lot like Jesus.

 

Before I talk more about why I think this reflects Jesus and why that is important, I want to say a word about the Jesus Seminar. I have grown intellectually and spiritually by reading their books and attending their conferences. I have admired their candor, honesty, their courage to challenge church dogma, and their willingness to step out of their academic settings to speak and write in terms that non-professionals can understand. I am going to present a paper at the Fall conference in October. The paper is about preaching and the historical Jesus. If it gets at least a pink vote I will share it with you.

 

Back to Jesus recommendation to “Be passersby.”

 

It reminds me of his statement:

“Foxes have dens, birds of the sky have nests, but the son of Adam has no where to lay his head.” Luke 9:58

 

Or this one:

 

“Whoever tries to hang on to life will forfeit it, but whoever forfeits life will preserve it.”

Luke 19:32

 

If you cling you will lose that to which you cling. If you let it go, you gain it all.

 

Jesus statement “Be passersby” is not a command but an invitation to recognize and accept the truth of who we are. We are passing by—passing through. Nothing is permanent. The only constant is change.

 

As our Buddhist sisters and brothers remind us about this in the Second Noble Truth. The illusion of permanence, the desire to cling and to keep things the same, is the cause of suffering. Lose the desire and you become free.

 

Free to what?

 

Free to appreciate fully that which we are passing through.

 

…A young man goes to a Buddhist teacher and asks for insight into the Second Noble Truth. The teacher picks up the small drinking glass on the table where she is sitting. ’Do you see this glass?” she asks. “Yes,” says the young man. “Well, for me the glass is already broken.; and that’s why I can enjoy drinking from it and take pleasure in seeing the sunlight on its surface.”

She sees the glass is already broken. Because she recognizes the transience of life, she is not saddened, but can enjoy all that passes through her hands.

This story is found in book you may enjoy. The book is entitled The Gospel of Thomas: A Guidebook for Spiritual Practice, by Ron Miller. He tells this story to comment on the saying 42, “Be passersby.”

 

--Ron Miller, The Gospel of Thomas: A Guidebook for Spiritual Practice. Skylight Paths Publishing, 2004. p. 6

  

 

One ancient Christian observance I appreciate is Ash Wednesday. Particularly, the imposition of ashes as we remind each other: “Remember, you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” When we see that we are dust, that the glass is broken, when we accept that this, too, shall pass, we can be at peace, living in the non-anxious present.

 

Being a passerby does not mean detachment from others. It does not mean passing by those who are suffering. Quite the opposite. When we are passersby we are free to fully engage with others, to fully be hospitable to others. Jesus as a passerby was with people in the present, healing, laughing, touching, weeping. He lived as though he had already died.

 

This past year was a time of change and growth for me, particularly these last several months. I am grateful for a friend who helped me with some things. He taught me to pay attention to the tense in which I was living. Past tense, present tense or future tense.

 

If my thoughts are in the past tense, if I am thinking about what happened in the past, the feelings I experience are sadness, regret, guilt, blame, anger.

 

If my thoughts are in the future tense, if I am thinking about what might happen, the feelings I experience are worry, anxiety, fear, despair, fatigue.

 

If my thoughts are in the present tense, if I am thinking about what is happening now, the feelings I experience are joy, peace, confidence, energy.

 

Being a passerby is being in the present.

When we live in the present, we are a non-anxious presence for others.

We are a great deal more effective in helping others.

 

What might it mean to be passersby in light of the events of this past week?

 

If we focus our thoughts on the past, we may feel anger. We may blame others for what we feel they should have done. We may feel guilty for what we feel we should have done.

 

If we focus our thoughts on the future, we will feel overwhelmed at the scope of the need. We will be fearful about our future, worrying about gas prices or whether or not we have enough insurance.

 

If we focus on the present, if we can be passersby, knowing that this, too, will pass, and all that we have and all we need are ourselves at this moment, we can be a non-anxious presence and provide effective service to others.

 

My great-great grandmother offered the best advice possible to her young daughter in 1876 before her dangerous journey across the plains and mountains of the west.

“This, too, shall pass.”—she wrote.

 

It’s the truth.

It will pass.

All of it.

The good and the bad.

Therefore, be present.

 

So what do Jesus, my great-great- grandmother, and the Buddha have in common?

 

They were all passersby.

 

May we be as wise.