Years ago I took horse-riding lessons.

And what a sight that was.  Not so much a 6’4” man on a rather small, ‘starter’ horse (no, my feet did not drag…) – but the fact that when the horse went down, I went up, and when the horse went up, I went down.  I had discovered that saddle soreness was a real-life malady. This meant I did not always look forward to my lessons.

It took me a while to learn how to ride with the horse, to ‘post,’ and when I finally got it, I got it. I began to enjoy being on the horse, going on trail rides, and a brand new world opened to me.

Ascension Day is Thursday. It’s 40 days after Jesus rose from the dead and 10 days before Pentecost. What’s significant about Ascension Day is that this is the day the disciples finally ‘got it.’ Luke’s Gospel tells us after Jesus ascended, the disciples no longer went into hiding and stopped shunning their allegiance, but returned to Jerusalem ‘with great joy’ as they set off on the work that was ahead of them. It’s as if they had finally accepted themselves for who they were and what they were called to do.

Ascension Day is literally a liberation day – one in which fear is dropped, hope is seized, and the work we’re called to do gets full attention. In the wake of Isla Vista, and the Ukraine, generational poverty and municipal bankruptcy, you and I know there is much work to do.

So our challenge is to look to Ascension Day as a liberation day for us as well because God is also calling us to release our fears, look to Jesus, and get busy with the work we’re called to do.  So what fears do we need to release? What work are we being called to do? How can Jesus’ trust, in leaving us in charge of things, be best curated? What brand new world awaits our liberation?