Sunday, March 31, 2013

Part 3: EASTER



     -walking in from the back
I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high and life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
 I dreamed that God would be forgiving...   Herbert Kretzmer - I DREAMED A DREAM
I had to come and see for myself; the tomb –empty.  After the darkness of the storm, the rumbling of the ground; the sporadic comings and goings on the streets, everyone lying low...I was sure that life had killed the dream.  That once again we were a people alone, that God forsook us...and this time died; was dead.
But the tomb, it looks open, empty.

Today, in the wee hours of the morning, the disciples –that is the boisterous, ranting, cheerleading Peter –came with an exaggerated tale.  He came to the tomb and then comes to tell us that it is empty...that the stone was rolled away, the linens were folded, and there were angels; mystical Peter.  He always seems to forget that many of us are “simple chic” –straight forward, step by step followers.  Practical.
This is not practical!                   
Potentially awesome, completely mind blowing if true, but not practical!
Could Jesus be alive?  Like Lazarus “a real live, once dead person”.

I’m no longer young and unafraid.  I’ve grown up; aged significantly in recent days.  And I am afraid.
This is serious business!  Something one could get killed over.
Perhaps Jesus body was moved, just to excite an excuse for the use of force.
The powers that be, need only catch a whiff of this and there will be trouble.
*pause for thought*
Look at the clouds...
White and puffy; floating across that bright expanse of blue.  Peaceful., idyllic, happy.
Happy to be –light playing through their folds, purposefully joyous.
Do I see in them day dreams, glimmers, of hope?
...A day, today even, where the upside down happenings of this year’s Passover have changed everything –or could change the world if we let them.

It’s not about Jesus being here.   Not physically anyway; it’s the tomb empty, Jesus mysteriously gone.
It’s how Jesus affected us, mentored how to live –to love; his presence continuing to be here somehow in everything I see, touch, hope, and imagine.  The clouds look redeemed somehow, and seem to cast the world in a different light...one full of potential for restoration, rebirth, and relationship.
It’s seeing –no finding –no experiencing- Jesus; dare I whisper, Messiah, somewhere in the world – through observation and serving.  I understand now.  Yes, through watching in the garden, washing feet, eating with everyone, sharing a meal with anyone.
It is the potential possibility of serving Christ in the present –this pushes us outward, onward, into the great unknown of resurrection.  Service causes resurrection, of relationship, of the Incarnate God...
Christ appears in that moment; Alive!   More than simply a day dream.    
God has not forsaken the world.    God is forgiving.  God is...
...when we are.
I [dream] a dream [within my heart]
I dream.. of love and [a] life worth living
I [believe] that love [can] never die 
-[for I sense that God’s alive.]  -Herbert Kretzmer - I DREAMED A DREAM

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