Resurrection
Resurrection
On the first Sunday of Lent, we handed out planting pots with a bulb and some dirt. Having spent much of my ministry career teaching children’s and youth Sunday School, I learned that bulbs and seeds are wonderful symbols of resurrection for young folk. (Adults too ☺) Something that appears to be dead and with no possibility of life, after being buried, will burst open with new life and offer something beautiful.
Did your bulb sprout up? Mine did not. I think I forgot to water it. Doh!
Did my resurrection illustration fail? If I look at it as something that happens after we die, then it sort of did. But what if resurrection is something we experience now?
Richard Rohr once again offered words that pinged my heart and mind…
We don’t need to wait for death to experience resurrection. We can begin resurrection today by living connected to God. Resurrection happens every time we love someone even though they were not very loving to us. At that moment we have been brought to new life. Every time we decide to trust and begin again, even after repeated failures, at that moment we’ve been resurrected. Every time we refuse to become negative, cynical, hopeless, we have experienced the Risen Christ.
We don’t have to wait for it later. Resurrection is always possible now.
The resurrection is not Jesus’ private miracle; it’s the new shape of reality.
It’s the new shape of the world. It’s filled with grace. It’s filled with possibility.
It’s filled with newness.
Resurrection is always possible now
What a hopeful perspective this offers us. It is something we can participate in every day. In our prayers, in our daily living, in our relationships with people we hold dear and with the person who cut in front of you in line at Costco.
Resurrection is the new shape of the world
If there is one thing I’ve learned in this walk of mine with God, it’s that if I pray for something, I am met with opportunities or encounters where that prayer might be answered. If I pray to be a more patient person (don’t ever do that, by the way!) then I will encounter situations where I need to practice patience.
As Fr. Richard says, resurrection is the new shape of reality. I pray our eyes will be opened to the new shape of the world and new life all around us. May we be met with opportunities and encounters to give away grace, mercy, love, and joy so that we may be a conduit of resurrection and possibilities of newness.
How about you? Where are you surprised by resurrection now?
Where do you see new life around you? How are you experiencing the new shape of reality?
Today I took my bulb out of the planting pot and put it in the dirt in my backyard. In all likelihood, I’ll forget all about it over the course of the year. Believe me, it’s happened before! A lovely church member gave me some bulbs last year and I put them in the ground. A few weeks ago, voila! New life! “Where did these freesias come from?” I wondered.
Next spring, I just might be surprised all over again.
Go make peace, my friends.
Pastor Leanne
Community Presbyterian Church
32202 Del Obispo
San Juan Capistrano. CA 92675
949-493-1502