April 2, 2024

My Disclaimer

I am not a theologian. I have no degrees in religion. I am not ordained. I have no revolutionary insights into what happened on what we Christians now think of as Easter Sunday. I hold few, if any certainties in my personal creed. Some days, maybe most days, I move from one task to another without giving much thought to the great “truths” of life and death. In fact, more and more I consider the implications of “multiple truths,” a term Rabbi Adam Spilker of Mt Zion Temple used during a recent adult forum at my church.

My Belief

Ok, given all I say I’m not, who do I say I am?

Well, on this day, two days after Easter Sunday, 2024, I say I am someone who believes in resurrection. As Joan Chittister says in her book, In Search of Belief, I am not specifically referring to the “revivification of an old life…It’s about experiencing a new kind of life entirely.”

I must admit I get hung-up on the word “entirely,” for I seem to experience resurrection in moments, in hints, in glimpses, in efforts, in unexpected gifts, in trial and error, in suggestions, in shimmers and glimmers.

In forgiveness. Or at least the desire to forgive. The movement toward forgiveness.

In grace, even when I don’t recognize it or acknowledge its presence.

Moments of Resurrection

Yes, I see resurrection in the loan daffodil that is almost ready to blossom in our backyard and in the song of a bird we can’t identify. And yes, I see resurrection in the pounds of rice and the cash collected for the local food shelf. I see resurrection in the overflowing crowds at all three of our Easter Sunday services –that pull towards hope and light. I hear it in the hymns and the inspiring sermon, and I receive it in the sharing of peace and the taste of the bread and wine.

I see it in the ways many are working for justice and peace and health and safety throughout the world. All the ways we are given to open our eyes and to respond to untruths and injustice and trauma and loss. All the ways we are invited to care.

My Own Moments of Resurrection

I often think and write about discovering the person God created me to be. The movement towards wholeness. The unfolding and enfolding of my own essence. Lately, another word has entered my reflection time: alignment. When is what I do, how I live my life, what I choose, and how I respond most in alignment with God? Those moments of alignment, however brief or intangible, nearly invisible, are moments of resurrection.

Most often I don’t perceive those moments as they are occurring. Rather, I perceive them as a kind of retrospective resurrection moment, but I am seeking to be more and more aware of Presence in the moment. Right now as I write these words to you.

My moments of resurrection are different from yours, but they share certain characteristics, I think. They lift.

They open.

They touch.

They grow.

They lead.

They transform.

Revisiting My Purpose Statement

Over the years I have developed a purpose or, if you prefer, a mission statement for myself.

My purpose is to deepen awareness of the movement and presence of God in my own life and the lives of others:

By writing.

By facilitating groups.

By listening and asking questions.

By living a contemplative life.

More and more I realize that my purpose/mission statement is a reminder to myself to practice resurrection, to notice resurrection, and to seek resurrection for myself and for others.

Wisdom from Joan Chittister

What we believe by resurrection is that life has a purpose and a quality that does not end at the grave. We believe that the God who created us does not create us to abandon us but brings us finally, somehow, home to the fullness of life. Resurrection is simply another part of the process of growing into God. “Life” as we know it, “time” as we chart it, are simply temporary points to an eternal journey in a universe of unlimited mystery, endless possibility.

In Search of Belief by Joan Chittister, p. 195.

We have now entered the season of Easter. May these days open you, no matter your belief system, to moments of resurrection.

An Invitation

Where and when have you noticed resurrection? I would love to know.