In the bowels of a submarine

Dark red paint pealed from the walls and taps, shower heads and toilets malfunctioned. It reminded me of descriptions of Charles Dickens’ London in Victorian times and I also imagined I was in the bowels of an ancient submarine. To be condemned to years in jail is one thing. To be destined to spend those years in squalid conditions is quite another.

And yet I am amazed by the resilience of these people who make the best of their situation. No doubt all human emotions and behaviours are there but also there seems to be a quiet spirit of endurance and even community among the inmates and with the officers. In the midst of degrading conditions the human spirit rises.

I have all this in mind as the Church comes once more to celebrate the Ascension of the Lord. The scriptures speak of the bewilderment of the disciples as the final moment of his physical presence among us arrives and he prepares to ‘withdraw from them’ (Luke24:51). Despite everything he has said they still think in terms of political change. He persistently reminds them that there has to be an inner change first and everything else will follow.

They are to ‘stay in the city’ until they are clothed with power from on high. In their case there was a dramatic ‘clothing’ at Pentecost, but in our case it may not be so dramatic.

As we watch or read the news each day we can be aware of the world ‘groaning in labour pains’ (Rom 8:22) as it struggles to bring forth the new man and woman. The media catches our attention with its daily horrific stories of war and human cruelty as with the three girls secretly held against their will for 10 years in a house in America. But it also records the efforts, often faltering, made to improve our situation, as in Somalia.

The struggle against sin remains our greatest preoccupation in building a better world. There are many places where this is happening and the bowels of our prisons are one of them. This moment of Ascension tells us that the battle is already won in the sense that we have the power within us to overcome evil. All we have to do is to ‘stay in the city’ and continue the struggle to the end. In this case it is really true that “victory is certain.”