Easter

I like Easter…

It’s a sign of New Life.    It’s a Mythic Story!   It’s part of the Human Journey, and you don’t have to dig too far down to find out how. 

My premise here is that, as irrelevant as some may think this whole church-thing to be, our faith isn’t separated out from life.   Our faith – and our faith stories – speak to us about the whole human experience.  

Or at least if can be if we don’t present it in some “ivory tower”, theology-above-life sort of way.  

The story of Jesus’ resurrection is a good example.   We can tell the story of the Resurrection in one of two ways; we can re-tell this as a one-time event (like any historical event) that happened to a specific person in a specific time and place – only.   We commemorate this event over and over again – this event that happened to one person, in a specific place and time – only.   Or… we can tell this story as a story describing part of the whole human experience, through the telling of Jesus’ resurrection.  

The movie “The Legend of Bagger Vance” was like this.   It had to do with a WWI veteran golfer in Georgia not long after the war.   I suppose you could say the movie is about Golf.   But if you dig a little, it’s about the main character’s issues with life… and a case could be made we’re all the main character (along with Matt Damon).   The issues he has to face, the things he has to remember, the decisions he has to make… are – if we live long enough – the very same things we all have to do, seek, and/or remember.   And golf – as specifically related to this WWI veteran golfer – is the vehicle through which our story is told.     

As the hymn goes, “Jesus Christ is Risen Today… alleluia”.    He is risen!   He is risen!   All well and good.    Now… how are YOU risen?  When were you dead, and needed to be resurrected?   

Unfortunately I have heard of quite a few people whose lives had been devastated by divorce.   I think of one particular person – the issues leading up to the divorce, the divorce itself… all messy and hurtful, left him pretty devastated and broken.   He changed; he got angry more easily, he wasn’t as happy as he used to be, he was of course depressed.   The “he” we all used to know, was not really there anymore.   Now certainly it was a process – this “death” of his old self didn’t happen overnight.   But at some point along the way, we did notice the “old” him was gone.

This all settled out, the marriage ended, and he moved on as best he could.   But with each step he took, he got closer to the light at the end of the tunnel.    He moved, made for himself a better life, he found someone to love (and who loved him back), and ultimately he’s so much happier now than he was ever before.   He went through the betrayal, death and destruction of his own personal Holy Week, but ultimately emerged to the other side… to his own Easter!   To his own resurrection!  

Jesus’ story is, in the particulars, certainly his own.   It is, in the mythic theme, our own too.  The story of violence and death (Holy Week), his burial, and his transformation into the resurrected Christ, is a deeply human story!    There are times where we all are overshadowed by the darker forces of life, by the destructive effects of our unhealthy choices, by the painful consequences of things beyond our control.    There are times where darkness seems all encompassing.  

And yet there always exists the seeds of resurrection!    There always exists the possibility of New Life!   We believe with God’s help and Grace, the symbol of execution (the Cross) becomes a symbol of New Life!  

And… and… at least here in the Northern Hemisphere (mostly north of the Equator and south of the North Pole) we find Easter in the Spring!    Spring – the time where nature come back alive again!  Where the coldness and appearance of emptiness and death are slowly replaced by the warmth of new life returning to the world of nature.    Okay, yes it mean allergies too, but bear with me here… spring- the idea of “Spring” is natures way of telling us that there IS a light at the end of the tunnel!    Alleluia!    

“Arise again, ye mortal

– arise! 

Stand

Embrace the Sun to yourself!

Unseen.  

     But there!

Unfelt.  

    But existent! 

It is there, ye mortal!  

     It IS there.

Embrace the warmth

Let the memory warm the mind first,

    then the heart…

Let the memory sink into your deepest self…

Remember ye mortal… remember!  

Remember the sun

Arise!

The sun rises again

There, do you see?

    Do you see, mortal?

Darkness is not permanent

Dispelled by the sun

Do you see it now?

I do

    It is real

    It is there

Breathe

Stand

    strong

Stand, ye mortal

Arise and greet the sun

    There it is

    There it is

Ah, yes

    There it is

The light is here at last”

Whoever wrote this… I don’t know… but certainly sounds like an Easter poem if you ask me!

Arise and greet the Son!   He is risen… the darkness is not permanent!   New life comes!   

Happy Easter to you, and God bless you all,

Pr. C-