The days of our life are seventy years,
or perhaps eighty, if we are strong;
even then their span is only toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.
Psalm 90: 10
Seeker,
How does resurrection reach you?
Supernovas and cosmic cataclysms
scintillate the imagination and set us wondering
about our tiny lives in the grand scheme.
Newcomers to the galactic neighborhood,
we breathe but for a handful of decades
on our blue pearl planet.
Such a fleeting flicker,
framed in endless darkness,
still, life persists, somehow saving the universe from oblivion.
Briefly we are graced with the opportunity
to inhabit sacred space
between blue sky and brown earth.
Whether quick or slow, frail or strong,
with feet in the mud and heads in the clouds
we bind heaven to earth.
For a thousand years in your sight
are like yesterday when it is past,
or like a watch in the night.
Psalm 90:4
So what is resurrection
to our short-lived span
in the river of time?
And what of resurrection’s power,
if it fails to reach the breathless, discarded places
where people are dying for another chance at life?
When was the last time
life took your breath away
or suffering took your heart away?
When did you last show your care
with a touch, a glance, a word, a second chance,
a listening heart, a heartfelt prayer?
We are human beings:
our being infinite as wind,
our human house full of holes
Mark Nepo
Is not resurrection
re-ignition and release,
kindling the fire of love’s eternal light?
Much more than a feeling,
suffering-love is a bonding, healing,
fiery, forgiving force.
But to love this way is to lose,
and you who have cared deeply
have already lost something in the transaction.
Compassionate care
is that burning human task
of loosening and letting go.
For love cannot ever withhold,
nor does it ever
hold back.
Though in appearance dwarfed
by the immensity
of pain and need,
forgiving passion
is a singularity
capable of cosmic meltdown.
Thus the resurrection release of forgiveness
becomes another big bang,
to blow away all that divides, bestowing to all a fresh start.
Such loosening love alone is capable
of attending to the dark graces
of suffering and injustice.
And when we bring love to suffering
we embody suffering-love—
yet another name for the Holy.
So, all who suffer out of love,
come to know a little
what God feels like.
Love is little,
Love is low,
Love will make our Spirit grow.
Grow in peace,
Grow in light,
Love will do the thing that’s right.
Shaker Hymn
When forgiveness leads us to the forgotten,
we are righted and we are ignited—
resurrection burning bright for all the world to see.
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Psalm 90:14
Where will you let forgiveness lead you?
joe