Memories flirt with the eternal (Delivered at St. Mary’s by the Sea, Fenwick)

Jacob lived a long life and a full one at that.

His birthright was blessed by Isaac, son of Abraham and Sarah, though that blessing was gained through a bit of bait and switch by his mother.

Jacob’s brother Esau was mad about his blessing and threatened to kill him once their father died.

Fearing violence, Jacob’s mother, Rebecca, sent him away.

On his journey to his new home, Jacob had a dream, a dream about a ladder reaching to heaven.

And then Jacob arrived in Haran, his new dwelling place for a time at least.

He walked to this place and saw a well.

All around this well were shepherds watering their flocks and amidst the crowds, perhaps from afar, Jacob saw Rachel.

Immediately, Jacob loved her.

Her physical beauty was obvious, sure, but this was love at first sight and love at first sight is something more than attraction, it is a connection between two people.

Jacob was in love with all who Rachel was and all of who they would become together.

Jacob asked her father for Rachel’s hand in marriage.

Rachel’s father Laban then said yes, but he would first have to work for him for seven years.

Rachel was worth waiting for and Jacob agreed.

So, Jacob waited only to be told by his future father-in-law that he would have to marry Laban’s oldest daughter first.

She was named Leah.

He did and asked for Rachel to be his second wife.

Laban agreed to this only if Jacob would work for him another seven years.

Well, Rachel was worth waiting for, so Jacob agreed.

After a while, Jacob and his family, with Rachel and Leah, moved back to his birthplace, across the river to Canaan.

And after having moved his family he crossed back over the river to gather their possessions.

It was here where Jacob encountered an angel some say or God, say others, and they wrestled.

They wrestled to a draw until his opponent touched Jacob’s thigh and Jacob became injured and lost the match.

Afterwards, Jacob was given God’s blessing and was called Israel.

Following this, Jacob returned to his family expecting to settle down, I suppose, yet his time for rest did not last as Rachel soon became pregnant with Benjamin.

Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin.

Jacob listened to his wife’s wailing in pain as it harmonized with the weeping of a newborn brought to life.

One voice faded while another grew stronger.

Jacob and Rachel had two sons, Joseph and Benjamin.

Jacob, Leah, and his concubines had ten other sons.

Of all his sons, Joseph was Jacob’s favorite, his first son of his first and truest love.

Jacob even made Joseph a robe.

It was a fantastic robe, a glorious robe, colorful and bright.

You might even say it was so colorful and so bright that it was almost seen in technicolor, but wishing to avoid copyright infringement, I will demure from describing it as such.

And still, Jacob could love, and he could love well and he could love hard.

He loved an unfading love, a love just as fresh and joyful as when it was first conceived.

And even though Rachel died, he did still love her.

I wonder if Jacob ever woke to the memory of his beloved, the woman he waited fourteen years to marry.

I imagine he must have, for Jacob could dream fantastic dreams.

And so too, could Joseph, for Joseph dreamed dreams of he, the second youngest being lord over his family.

Dreams that added to his brother’s jealousy as they already resented Joseph for being their father’s favorite.

And their jealousy grew.

And their resentment grew.

And they conceived a plot to get rid of Joseph by throwing him into a pit.

The plan went as it was planned.

When Jacob asked Joseph to find his brothers in the fields, Joseph listened to his father.

Joseph was seen by the brothers as he was wandering the fields looking for them.

They set upon him.

They stole his coat, his bright and wonderful coat that angered the brothers for they never received such a prize.

And they threw him in a pit.

And Joseph was found by traders; Joseph was then taken to Egypt.

Upon hearing the news, Jacob wept.

His beloved son was gone.

Told by his other sons that Joseph had actually died, Jacob was bereft.

Joseph was his first born with his beloved Rachel.

Joseph was his son who was born when he was older, when Jacob knew better and was calmed by the years.

He loved Joseph with the clarity that comes through experience, through life lessons.

He loved Joseph with the heart of man who could love another person at first sight.

He loved with understanding and nuance.

He loved well and he loved hard.

And yet, now Joseph was gone and he cried out a cry that harmonized with the silence found in the absence of his favorite son.

Still, there is something about love that even death and heartbreak cannot extinguish.

There is perhaps a love we have all experienced.

It is a love that I pray we have all encountered.

It is not romantic love.

It is deeper than that.

It is an unseen, though not unfelt, connection between two people, it is the sinew that attaches us to each other through the ether of time and space.

It is as real as anything we touch and yet never to be grasped.

And it is eternal.

You see, I like to go to the shore.

I grew up going to beach on weekends in the summertime, we would wander the boardwalks in the offseason; I find great solace in visiting the shoreline in the winter.

And of course I enjoy it so much because of the sound of the waves or the sun on my back or the winter winds biting through sweaters and flannel.

The look of absolute surprise and confused joy when a child realizes for the first time that a sea gull will take a french fry from their fingers never ceases to impress.

Yet there is a memory there in all of this; a certitude that such things are unending.

For the sun is the same sun that shone upon me years ago.

And under that sun, I felt safe and loved when we visited the Jersey shore with my grandparents.

Under this sun, I return to those feelings and hope that my children feel such a thing.

The winter winds blew just as hard years ago when I’d walk the boardwalk with my parents soon after my brother moved away to college; I was a quiet boy coming into my own as we all missed a brother who I loved.

And may we all know the betrayal of a thieving sea gull.

I mention these tidbits because a love that is permanent, stays with us.

It does not end.

No matter how many pits we are placed into, no matter how many miles we are absconded away to, love does not fade, connections do not break.

And Jacob lived a full life, yet one with heartbreak and devastation.

Never, though, did he stop loving.

For Jacob loved well.

And Jacob loved hard.

That multiplied many times over, is God’s love for all of us.

All of the heartbreak we experience is felt by God.

All of the joy we feel, that childlike glee that infects us as we watch our children thrive is felt by God.

Our tears never fall alone for God weeps with us in our heartache.

Our human love is a gift that is but a preview of the love God has for each and every one of us.

Did Jacob still dream of Rachel after her death?

I am pretty sure he did.

Did Jacob still imagine Joseph in his dazzling coat?

I am pretty sure he did.

Do I still hear the voices of my grandparents on a sunny day at the shore?

I do.

There is no separation there.

Our memories of days past and the love we shared in those times make us understand the eternal for that recollection and that love are unending.

We live with memory placed within the beating of our hearts.

Jacob felt that.

I feel it.

Those feelings, though different now, are similar.

Memories sometimes made gauzy by the sadness we carry for folks we mourn or feel for times gone by, we still do not forget.

That is the gift of love.

And so, we are seemingly left with but shadows and echoes of those who we love and no longer encounter.

Yet even shadows are seen and echoes are heard.

Memories flirt with the eternal as they are felt by and within our hearts.

Such is the permanence of love.

It is the very promise of the eternal.

And God is found in the eternal for God is the eternal.

Live well with the memories you have with faith that God’s kingdom will arrive.

And with God is that promise realized.

Amen.