Your Rightful Place

In the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, an elderly man stood before a painting by one of the great artists of the twentieth century. The man was obviously highly elated. Over and over, he kept saying, “At last I’m in my rightful place! … I’m in my rightful place! … At last I’m in my rightful place!” Standing nearby was a leading contemporary artist. He seemed puzzled by the man’s words. After listening for awhile, he interrupted the man. “Why are you saying that at last you are in your rightful place when, as we both know, the painting you are looking at is not yours?” To which the man replied, “You are right, of course. I didn’t paint the picture, but it was I who made the frame.”

John’s Gospel begins by telling us that, in the Divine scheme of things, when Jesus Christ came into the world He took His rightful place as the “true light that enlightens all…