What kind of New Life?

 Happy Easter. We say it so quickly, like the greeting, Hi, How are you? We don't expect anyone to really tell us how they are. We say it because, well, it's what we say when we see someone!

I think the same can be said of Easter and resurrection and Jesus in general. We've become accustomed to the accounts given to us, the message we are supposed to take from it, and therefore, Happy Easter!

I'd like to suggest something a little different today. When you think of Easter and resurrection, I'd like you to think of recovery. A specific recovery, from emotional and verbal abuse.

If you have suffered from these, you know the damage it does. Robin Stern, in his book, "The Gaslight Effect: How to Spot and Survive the Hidden Manipulation Others Use to Control Your Life" includes some of the signs of gaslighting:

* No longer feeling like the person you used to be

*Being more anxious and less confident than you used to be

*Often wondering if you're being too sensitive

*Feeling like everything you do is wrong

*Apologizing often

*Having a sense that something's wrong, but being unable to identify what it is

*Feeling isolated from friends and family

*Finding it increasingly hard to make decisions

These are just some of the signs. I think the biggest consequence of gaslighting is a loss of confidence in self. When you leave the situation of abuse, you don't automatically and suddenly gain that back. 

That's where the Easter story comes in. Is Jesus just redeeming us from sin? Or are there other interpretations for his resurrection? Like healing from trauma?

Healing from trauma is a slow process. With confidence, it means learning to speak up when someone says something you don't agree with. It means believing your decision is the right one, without constant second-guessing. It means being able to say no and not give an explanation. It means being able to make a mistake, and not feel the world has ended or you are being judged. It means believing in yourself enough that outside criticism does not take it away.

Jesus shows us the way. Patience. Acceptance. Healing. His resurrection story is also a story of healing from the passion of abuse. 

Unwrap the Bindings

I have noticed that spiritual people can have a tendency to over spiritualize everything in life, as though somehow every act came straight from the hand of God. I am not speaking of those who see the hand of God in events, but rather to those who exclude the human element of life, the human struggle, the human dimension. And when we do that, we forget the human effort needed to rise above human tendency.

Easter is just one sort of event. Christians all believe that Jesus rose from the dead, a day glorious and offering profound hope of immortality. What we often forget is, Jesus too, as a human being, had a choice. Jesus rose because he could follow through with his calling, he could let go of the past and move forward to his destiny, he could unwrap the bindings that held him and step forth into the light.

Think for a moment of what might have happened had Jesus held on to the pain and suffering he endured. What if Jesus could not let go of his suffering and humiliation? What if he had gotten "stuck" in the memory of what had happened and could not move past that?

It is unimaginable to think of Jesus stuck in death. And yet, that is how I sometimes live; stuck in a bad memory, in anger and resentment. Stuck in my bad luck, bad choices, unfortunate incidents.

What good is it to believe in resurrection, in eternal life, if I cannot rise above events here on earth? What good is it to hope for heaven when I live life as though in a tomb? For when I am stuck, I cannot hear the call to come forth. I am, spiritually stuck in death.

Jesus showed us the power of letting go when he stepped out of the tomb and into the light. He showed us the power of dropping our bindings and moving our sealed stone that keeps us imprisoned. He opened the sealed compartment of his tomb not by force, but by grace. Such is the power of letting go.

Jesus invites me to do the same. Easter is a reminder that eternal life starts here on earth, that rising begins with daily events, that each of us has a tomb requiring resurrection. Easter is a symbol for each one of us to come forth from the tomb of disappointments, disillusionment, judgements and resentments. I am called to live a resurrected life, to unwrap whatever binds me and holds me prisoner. I am called to grace, a grace that can perform powerful acts of God within my life, if I let go.

Let us each live resurrected, here and now, so that we witness to the power of believing.

The disciples on the road to Emmaus

The disciples on the road to Emmaus. It is one of my favorite stories of the resurrection. It depicts not just disciples who had believed and been disappointed, but it depicts each one of us as well. What happens on this journey happens to me. I believe. I hope. And at times, I am disappointed, by God.

When I give my life over to God, when I live in a conscious attitude of Presence, I expect God to reciprocate. I expect God to watch over me. When I suffer darkness and confusion, when bad things happen and I am not spared, when life hurts, my first instinct is to turn to God and ask, "Why?"

The disciples on the road to Emmaus were asking the same question. And I think the message of this story is, be careful of your sadness, for it will keep you from having vision. Jesus walks right up to the disciples, who were at that very moment speaking of him. And yet, they do not recognize. He walks with them, yet they do not recognize. He opens the scripture to them; he makes their hearts burn, and still, they do not recognize. They are looking in with sadness, they are concentrating on their disappointment, they have lost vision.

When I am disappointed, I should remember that sadness steals my vision. It makes life dark, and prospects dim. It keeps me involved with my pain, and not with gift. It makes me forget that sadness too needs resurrection.

Sadness made the disciples forget what Jesus looked like. If I succumb to sadness, I too will forget. I too will become weary with the journey, and not recognize Presence and gift when it comes.

Easter is about Sacred words

Easter is about Amazement. Every time Jesus appears to someone, they are amazed. Often, they are in disbelief. And some do not even recognize him.

Part of the amazement comes because, even though Jesus had foretold his resurrection, his disciples did not believe him. In their minds, the Savior was suppose to bring back the glory of Israel.  When Jesus dies, it is over. And all the words about rising from the dead literally fell on deaf ears.

Perhaps we are not far from the disciples. How often we have heard words and not believed. How often have we clung to an image and refused to accept anything else. Part of it comes from the fact that in life, comments are made flippantly, with no real substance to them. We get used to hearing promises that are never kept, invitations that are never fulfilled, and offers that fall flat.

When we enter into a relationship with Jesus, when we begin to learn what it means to believe, we realize that when Jesus speaks, he means what he says. He does not speak lightly. He fulfills his promises.

So, if we are believers, should we not fulfill our promises? Should we not be true to the words we utter?

No one speaks of this kind of witness. And yet, what better example could I give to my faith than to treat my words as sacred?

Easter is about accepting this truth.

Who do I see?

The Easter story is not just about resurrection. It is also a story about seeing and unseeing, about understanding and misunderstanding. It is a story about the ability to grow and change.

I love to think of Mary Magdalen going to the tomb, intent on anointing the body of Jesus. She does not stop to consider whether she can roll the huge stone away, or how she will get past the soldiers who are guarding the place. She goes thinking only of honoring the body of Jesus. When she finds the tomb empty, she runs to tell the disciples, who come, look and then leave.

Mary Magdalen does not leave. She stays in the garden and weeps. She does not know where Jesus is, so she stays at the place she last saw him. He was dead, but he was there. And when Jesus reveals himself to her, she does not recognize him.

There are many theories as to why Mary Magdalen does not recognize Jesus. Some say she was weeping and so tears blurred her vision. Some say she expected him dead, so did not recognize him alive. But regardless of the reason, the truth is, Mary looked straight at Jesus and called him the gardener (Jn 20:15).

I do the same thing. I look at people, situations, even my faith, and have a tendency to call it by another name. My judgements are not always true. I see, but not always what is there.

I believe this is Jesus main issue with the scribes and pharisees. They felt they could not make a mistake. They believed they knew. They said, "We see" when in fact, they were blind (Jn 9:41).

I must have a faith like Mary Magdalen, one that is attentive to my name being called, and my eyes being opened. To be aware I may make mistakes in judgments, or in perceptions.

Mary Magdalen accepted that she mistakenly called Jesus the gardener. She did not hesitate for one moment to accept that fact, and ran to embrace Jesus (Jn 20:16).

It is an example for me. For to see Jesus, I must sometimes admit, I have it wrong, I have judged falsely, I have failed to see.

Easter: a time of resurection

I have noticed that spiritual people can have a tendency to over spiritualize everything in life, as though somehow every act came straight from the hand of God. I am not speaking of those who see the hand of God in events, but rather to those who exclude the human element of life, the human struggle, the human dimension. And when we do that, we forget the human effort needed to rise above human tendency.

Easter is just one sort of event. Christians all believe that Jesus rose from the dead, a day glorious and offering profound hope of immortality. What we often forget is, Jesus too, as a human being, had a choice. Jesus rose because he could follow through with his calling, he could let go of the past and move forward to his destiny, he could unwrap the bindings that held him and step forth into the light.

Think for a moment of what might have happened had Jesus held on to the pain and suffering he endured. What if Jesus could not let go of his suffering and humiliation? What if he had gotten "stuck" in the memory of what had happened and could not move past that?

It is unimaginable to think of Jesus stuck in death. And yet, that is how I sometimes live; stuck in a bad memory, in anger and resentment. Stuck in my bad luck, bad choices, unfortunate incidents.

What good is it to believe in resurrection, in eternal life, if I cannot rise above events here on earth? What good is it to hope for heaven when I live life as though in a tomb? For when I am stuck, I cannot hear the call to come forth. I am, spiritually, stuck in death.

Jesus showed us the power of letting go when he stepped out of the tomb and into the light. He showed us the power of dropping our bindings and moving our sealed stone that keeps us imprisoned. He opened the sealed compartment of his tomb not by force, but by grace. Such is the power of letting go.

Jesus invites me to do the same. Easter is a reminder that eternal life starts here on earth, that rising begins with daily events, that each of us has a tomb requiring resurrection. Easter is a symbol for each one of us to come forth from the tomb of disappointments, disillusionment, judgements and resentments.I am called to live a resurrected life, to unwrap whatever binds me and holds me prisoner. I am called to grace, a grace that can perform powerful acts of God within my life, if I let go.

Let us each live resurrected, here and now, so that we witness to the power of believing.