No Escape – Alleluia!

Just when we think the world is awash with bad and troublesome things – politics, violence, environmental changes – we get an infusion of joy. Easter is that infusion. Yes, in church tradition it is about Jesus’ new life after death. But really, that joy is available to all people of whatever faith, or no faith. Growing things bloom; there are possibilities; it is a treat to be outside in warmth, instead of in cold and rain – our bits of new life after a long walk through hard times. The gospel of Mark has an abrupt end – there are no post-death appearances of Jesus. The women run from the empty tomb in terror and amazement, the text says, and tell no one. There are various emotions in the other gospels – in Matthew, fear and joy; in Luke, disbelief; in John, sadness, then recognition and joy.

The resurrection is real because we are still talking about it. The fact that Jesus lived changes lives. He did not disappear from human history like a thousand other failed messiahs in his time and later. History is different because he lived, and because in the hearts of so many, he still lives. Do things really have to happen this way – that we have to stumble through pain and difficulties? Resurrection, a rising again, may be just a moment, or it may be a life journey, a series of moments. Rise, my friends, be resurgent. There is work to do, and a long path ahead to create the world of shalom, of wholeness, that God desires. But that road is paved with love, and there is no escaping this joyful moment. There’s no escape, and it’s so good God wants us to play and sing in it.   May you experience your own personal Easter – in fact, many of them, in the days and weeks to come! Alleluia, Christ is risen!

Pastor Carol