(Easter A Acts 10:34-43)
Then Peter began to speak to them: "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. (Acts 10:34-35)
Dear Peter,
I'm thinking about all my favorite stories about you. I love the way you tell Jesus you are not worthy but drop the net and go anyway. I love the way you want to build those booths for Moses and Elijah and Jesus. I love the way you try to talk Jesus out of his destiny, and I love it that even though he snaps at you (Get behind me, Satan!), you stick with him instead of blowing out of there.
I even love you when you say you do not know him, although it pains me every time I read it or see it in a movie or hear it on a recording. When we get to that reading on Maundy Thursday, I know I will cringe, because I will see myself in you. I will see so many human tendencies reflected in you.
And just as I know in my higher mind that the Resurrection will follow the Crucifixion, but still feel the despair of Good Friday keenly, I look at where you ended up but still suffer with you in the moment the cock crows.
I think about how John says you ran into the tomb to see if you could find him. I think about the way you jumped into the water and swam to the shore to see him. I think about the way you spoke in front of crowds just seven weeks later, a long way from hiding in the Upper Room. I think about your dream, your beautiful dream, the way you learned that all people are included in the embrace of God's love and the salvation found in Jesus Christ.
If I could go back to your time and meet you, I would. You could tell me how it really happened, clear up the mysteries. I know you could do it, because you were most definitely a talker.
Oh, Peter! You give me hope.
Fondly,
Songbird