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Reflection on Resurrection
It was a Tuesday in Holy Week. I lived in a brick duplex in Midtown with my girls. I was in awe of the brilliant Passover moon that night as I went to bed and saw it rising in its fullness against the dark sky. My bedroom was square, positioned on an outside corner wall of the top floor; I could see the moon out there behind the house through the windows on both walls.
I woke in the middle of the night to the dazzling illumination of my bed. Just my bed and me in it. Not the whole room, just me in my little nightly sarcophagus, in which I (as do each of us) lie down to rest in peace, and relinquish my life to the care of God, as I would in death.
The moon had traveled across the sky and around the corner of my room and flooded the other window with the most stunning pristine light. It was a Resurrection light.
It woke me up. “So, this!” I said out loud in a raspy whisper, “This is how the resurrection will be!”
It was unmistakably God-filled. It was unmistakably a taste of resurrection as it shall be. I know it now. I have been bathed in it, the Resurrected Light, this Jesus.
And yet, I have to practice resurrection. In this season, I have to stay inside the stories, or what we call the “Stations of the Resurrection,” with imagination, art practices, prayer practices, and staying power.
Would that we were as bold as Thomas, not bold because he admits his doubt, but bold because it’s a bold thing to say with certainty what we would need to believe in the resurrection of the body. A kind of boldness and risk that would land us with two feet on the personal knowledge of Jesus as “my lord and my God.”
Resurrection is an odd thing all on its own, but certitude about it is even more so. It’s hard to picture, imagine, hope for, or even wonder why it’s something to proclaim.
But this is why we practice. We are practicing together. In Adult Formation on Sunday mornings, we are staying with the Stations of the Resurrection; practice Resurrection through art and music, and imagination.
Practice with us. Keep the Great Fifty Days of Easter with us.
In all Joy of the Resurrection,
The Rev. Ruth Pattison
Sunday Formation | 9:00 AM
Stations of the Resurrection | The Road to Emmaus from the Gospel according to Luke.
This week, our rector, Bill Murray, will take us on the road to Emmaus with iconography. This is both an art form and a prayer practice with ancient roots.
We are practicing the resurrection during the Great 50 days of Easter,
with the use of stirring resources, such as imagery, art, music, holy scripture, prayers, and candlelighting.
Join us at 9:00 AM Sunday mornings to delve deep into the glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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