Looking Through the Lens of God’s Easter Promise

Christ Crucified is all of the hidden, private, tragic pain of history made public and given over to God. Christ Resurrected is all of that ungrieved suffering received, loved, and transformed by an All-Caring God. The Cross is the banner of what we do to one another and to God. The Resurrection is the banner of what God offers us in return.                      

Richard Rohr, on the Holy Resurrection of Jesus Christ

In a world where things are not always experienced as they should be or I/we would like them to be (injustice, indifference, selfishness, despair), the Resurrection of Jesus offers a lens through which we can see how life is intended to be lived. Through God’s Easter Promise, Jesus overcomes the sting of death, the sting of our/my pride and selfishness, so that once again we might begin anew.

Paul’s Lenten blog on little deaths and resurrections reminds me of this promise. Each time I/we offer forgiveness, let a nagging thought go, answer God’s call, offer compassion, and/or open ourselves to prayer and the mystery of new life in God, we are opening ourselves to ‘something new.' The Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ speaks of God’s eternal love for and relationship with us. Created in the image of God, we too can offer our own personal ‘deaths and resurrections’ in our daily walk and relationship with God, and with ‘our neighbors.'

As we travel along our own journey(s), individually and communally, we can practice and live into God’s Love….through forgiveness (as we have been forgiven)…..through compassion (as God first loved us)…….through mindfulness (we are made in the image of God)…and through reverence (in prayer and by the power of the Holy Spirit). God’s Easter Promise through the Resurrection offers the chance to transform and heal brokenness. We are given a lens to see beyond our individual concerns and become open to new possibilities.

Today, may we once again hear our name being called, recognize Christ in the breaking of bread, cast our nets again, and know the good news that the Lord is risen. Alleluia!”–Rev. Brian McLaren

Shalom,

Susan