#invitation – Life in the Deep End

Pondering Easter Monday
I wonder…
How wild will resurrection be
   without us in control?
How far will grace reach?
How high will mercy rise?
What unexpected justice will be revealed?
How deep will the Love of a
   sacrificial
   redemptive
   transformative
   Act of God
go?

Will resurrection overwhelm
   my bent to sin –
   my arrogance, the pride, an ever-evolving ego?
Will resurrection move so
   quickly ahead of me
   that all I was so concerned about simply
   vanishes into the faithful provision
   of God who already knew
   the need
   before I cried out in prayer?

Does resurrection power wait
   for me to act?
The disciples scattered at the crucifixion.
The women went to the tomb not for evidence
   of resurrection, but to honor the dead.

Where am I going on Easter Monday?
What will I find along the way?
Because Christ is not waiting on me.

And yet – his hand is reaching out across eternity
   and all the barriers I can ever erect.
Again and again, his hand appears,
even with scars from the nails.
I hear the invitation…
“Come on now, let’s run forward together
   there is so much more my Father and I have to show you!

Easter Monday
Resurrection unleashed
Hope and Provision inviting me to come along.
As Frost might say, “you come too.”
Let it be.

Lord help us hold the tension today where hope and despair run parallel. Help us grieve with those who approach gravesides and celebrate with all who receive news of relief and joy. Give us courage to be in the waiting; the tension of uncertainty and the anticipation that you might do something – say something – or reveal something we didn’t expect, today.

We live in a world of violence. Violence that condemns others, and a violence against our own selves. It doesn’t come from weapons we make; this comes from what it is deep within our hearts. Many of our hearts are broken.

Help us hold the tension of Maundy Thursday, where hope and despair run parallel. Allow us courage enough to come to the table, and humility enough to stay with you and with each other. Thank you for inviting us to stumble in with dirty, tired feet; hopes and dreams; unanswered questions; denial; masks and even love. There will be tension, so help us hold steady and not run away from you, today.

Amen.