Jesus said to his disciples: "A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me." So some of his disciples said to one another, "What does this mean that he is saying to us, 'A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while later and you will see me,' and 'Because I am going to the Father'?" So they said, "What is this 'little while' of which he speaks? We do not know what he means." Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, "Are you discussing with one another what I said, 'A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me'? Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve. but your grief will become joy."
Upon reading this text, in fact every time I do so, I always think of children when our parents were testing our hearing and doing skills (auditory-manual or action coordination) and actually showing us the CLOSE-OPEN-CLOSE-OPEN while actually doing the actions with their palms. I don't know if Jesus is trying to insert humor here at his impending death, and the loss that the disciples will experience. Is this his way of balancing our way of living, i.e., in anxiety, broaden the perspective; do not get stuck with what is there for there will be something more. Be open, in other words. For indeed, suffering will have to be taken the way it is if we are ever to really overcome it. Denial of suffering was not what Jesus wanted us to have. Suffering has a purpose, and trust in God the Father is better than being trapped in the moment.
The other picture I see whenever I read the above text is related to Piaget's Object Permanence theory. Here is a picture which I got from this site: http://wondertime.go.com/learning/article/putting-the-fun-in-peekabo.html
By Object Permanence is meant an understanding or belief that objects and events continue to exist even when they cannot directly be seen, heard & touched. The peek-a-boo play with kids shows this reality, i.e., try to hide something from a baby, and when the baby tries to look for what was hidden, the said baby has object permanence. While this is part of the child's cognitive development, it has implications for our faith experience. Object permanence seems to create in us a sense of security that even if we don't see something, especially when it is hidden from our sight, what we only need to do is search and we will find it. There really is no need to be too anxious that what was hidden is lost. The belief that something we saw continues to be even beyond our sight is an indication that it has been installed in us, and we can learn patience, trust, and most especially happiness when it is shown again.Whenever I play peek-a-boo with my little nephews and nieces, and even any child for that matter, and I see the glow in their eyes, as if at first wondering where I went, and then when I show myself again I see the smile and laughter in the child, I always feel the joy of security and peace. This can become our peace as we live even without seeing Jesus the way we see others as we live in this world.
God bless us all
