Easter Sunday 2010, Essence of Life

Easter Sunday

Mark 16: 1-18

And when the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Him. And very early on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb just as the sun was rising. And they said to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?”

Benjamin Gerritz

And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back—and it was very large. And they went into the tomb. There they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clad in a white robe; and they were beside themselves with amazement. And he said to them, “Do not be startled; you seek Jesus of Nazareth the Crucified One. He is risen; He is not here; see, there is the place where they laid Him [his body]. But go, and say to his disciples and Peter “He will lead you to Galilee. There you will see Him as He promised you.”

            And they went out and fled from the tomb in great haste, for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and being awestruck, they were unable to say anything to anyone about what they had experienced.

When He had risen early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene from whom He had driven out seven demons. And she went and told those who had walked with Him, as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, their hearts could not grasp it.

After this He appeared in another form to two of them on the way as they were walking over the fields. And they went back and told the rest, but they could not open their hearts to their words either.

Afterwards He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were celebrating the meal. He reproached them for their lack of openness and for their hardness of heart, because they had not wanted to believe those who had seen Him, the Risen One.

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the new message from the realm of the angels to the whole of creation. Whoever unites his heart with it  [believes] and is immersed in me [baptized] will attain the salvation. But whoever closes himself against it does not let the power of selflessness into his heart [does not let the power of My Self into his heart] will meet his downfall. And spiritual powers [these signs] will stand by those who unite themselves with it and will attend their path [believe]: Through the power of my being [in my name] they will drive out demons; they will speak a new language; serpents they will make upright, and poisons they are given to drink will not harm them. They will lay their hands on the sick, and give healing forces to them.

Easter Sunday

Dore

April 4, 2010

Mark 16:1 – 18

Human perception is a complicated thing. Sometimes we can see a thing and not recognize it at all. Sometimes our expectations prevent us from taking in what is actually there. And sometimes we see things that seem to make no sense at all.

The women go sadly to the tomb, expecting to meet with the usual results of death. Instead they are startled to meet a very much alive young man in white. He speaks calming words to them. He knows that they have come to anoint the corpse of Jesus, who had undergone torture and execution. Contrary to their expectation, the young man assures them that the bodily Jesus they are expecting to find is not there—they can see for themselves that the grave is empty. He says that Jesus is risen. Empty grave. Risen? What could that possibly mean? They are astonished, confused and speechless.

And so are the other disciples when they hear the story, despite multiple reports. It is an event so radically new in human history that it was at first imperceptible, ungraspable, unbelievable, as it continues to be today. Perhaps there are other ways of perceiving truth, besides sensory perception and thought. Perhaps an open heart is a better organ for perceiving some things than the mind is.

At the first Easter, the living essence of Life itself entered the realm of death, and remained there, itself alive. Since that time, Death the Spectre holds in its arms a secret. In the bosom of death there shines the young man in white, radiantly joyful. The young man now occupies the once empty void at the center of death. The young man is the picture of death’s now living heart.  Death is no longer a stopping place, a dead end. The young man in death’s heart points out the way further.

Go, he says, walk toward the sun-drenched regions of living light. There you will see Him who wrestled with death and filled it with Life. There you will behold Him, the powerful healer and giver of grace. You will find Him at the heart’s altar. There you will behold the One who is the meaning of the earth.

www.thechristiancommunity.org 

2nd Easter 2011, Inspired

2^nd Easter
John 20: 19-29

On the evening of the first day after the Sabbath, the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the authorities. Jesus came and stood in their midst and said,

“Peace be with you!”

And while he said this, he showed them his hands and his side.

Full of joy the disciples recognized the Lord. And again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”

And when he said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive Holy Spirit through which the world will receive healing. From now on you shall work in human destinies with spiritual power, so that they shall have the strength to wrest themselves free from the load of sin, and at the same time to bear the consequences of their offences.”

Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not there with them when Jesus came. Later the disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”

But he replied, “If I do not see in his hand the marks of the nails, and do not put my finger in the place where the nails were, and place my hand in his side, I cannot believe it.”

Eight days later, the disciples were again gathered in the inner room and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”

Then he said to Thomas, “Stretch out your finger and see my hands, and stretch out your hand and put it into my side. Be not rigid in your heart, but rather feel and trust in my power in your heart.”

Then Thomas said to him, “You are the Lord of my soul; you are the God whom I serve.”

And Jesus said to him, “Have you found my power in yourself because you have seen me? Blessed are those who find my power in their hearts, even when their eye does not yet see me.”

2^nd Easter

May 1, 2011

John 20: 19-29

Our breathing is a two-sided process. With each in-breath, we take in something of the world. And with each exhalation, we breathe something of ourselves out into the world. But modern life, with its stresses and anxieties, makes our breathing too shallow—we often take in too little, give out too little of ourselves.

In today’s reading, the disciples are locked in a room together for fear of what the world may do to them. Christ enters this anxious space and He breathes onto them and asks them to receive His breath. He wants to breathe into them His holy, healing spirit-breath. He wants to fill their lungs with His life, fill their souls with His peaceful courage, and His love. He wants to breathe into them His power to overcome. They will inhale His breath, the fresh breath of spring and new life, His resuscitating power. They in turn will be able to breathe His healing spirit out into the world. They will breathe out peace and love, courage, strength and comfort.

We too have the opportunity to be breathed into, to be ‘inspired’, by Christ. We have come together in a room into which we invite His spirit. We ask that His grace-bearing spirit breathe down onto us, into us, as we breathe out the offering of our souls’ devotion. We receive His peace, along with the bread and wine of His transformed body. Bread and wine become for us the touchstone of His transforming power. Like Thomas we will be able to say to Him, ‘You are the Lord of my soul; you are the God whom I serve.’

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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Easter Sunday 2011, Sun Bird

Easter Sunday

Mark 16: 1-18

And when the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Him. And very early on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb just as the sun was rising. And they said to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?”

And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back—and it was very large. And they went into the tomb. There they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clad in a white robe; and they were beside themselves with amazement. And he said to them, “Do not be startled; you seek Jesus of Nazareth the Crucified One. He is risen; He is not here; see, there is the place where they laid Him [his body]. But go, and say to his disciples and Peter “He will lead you to Galilee. There you will see Him as He promised you.”

            And they went out and fled from the tomb in great haste, for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and being awestruck, they were unable to say anything to anyone about what they had experienced.

Rembrandt

When He had risen early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene from whom He had driven out seven demons. And she went and told those who had walked with Him, as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, their hearts could not grasp it.

After this He appeared in another form to two of them on the way as they were walking over the fields. And they went back and told the rest, but they could not open their hearts to their words either.

Afterwards He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were celebrating the meal. He reproached them for their lack of openness and for their hardness of heart, because they had not wanted to believe those who had seen Him, the Risen One.

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the new message from the realm of the angels to the whole of creation. Whoever unites his heart with it  [believes] and is immersed in me [baptized] will attain the salvation. But whoever closes himself against it does not let the power of selflessness into his heart [does not let the power of My Self into his heart] will meet his downfall. And spiritual powers [these signs] will stand by those who unite themselves with it and will attend their path [believe]: Through the power of my being [in my name] they will drive out demons; they will speak a new language; serpents they will make upright, and poisons they are given to drink will not harm them. They will lay their hands on the sick, and give healing forces to them.

Easter Sunday

April 24, 2011

Mark 16: 1 – 18

Many ancient mythologies tell of a bird of great beauty, with colored plumage

of red and gold. It first appeared on the primeval mound that rose from the watery chaos at the first creation. It first cry, so melodious that the rising sun stops to listen—marks the beginning of time and its rhythmic division into hours, days, weeks, years. It lives on the dew.

This bird has a very long lifespan, some say 500, some say 1,000 years. As the end of its life approaches, the bird builds a pyre nest of the branches of aromatic trees, like the healing myrrh. It sets it afire and is consumed. After three days there arises a young bird, who gathers the ashes of the nest, which was both sepulcher and cradle, and forms them into an egg of myrrh. It takes this egg to the city of the sun and deposits it on the altar of the Sun God, thus ushering in a new phase out of its own life.

The Sun Bird is the image for Christ, the Sun Spirit and the creator of time. He lives on the dew of His Father’s will. He rises anew after His life is consumed with love for humanity. In the grave, like the Sun Bird, He creates a new form out of the ashes of the old. As the young man at the tomb told the women: He is risen; His body is not here—see the place where they laid Him.’ (Mark 16:6) When two of his disciples are walking across the field, they are overtaken by Him, unrecognized. The three of them discuss what had just taken place, and how this all fitted in with the scriptural prophecies. Afterward, they finally realized with Whom they had been, and they say, ‘Did our hearts not already burn within us as He spoke to us on the way?” (Luke 24:13, ff.)

Because Christ is also eternal, from beyond time, everything He did in His human life and death is still ongoing. His descent into the depths of earthly existence, in life and in death, means that these are the very places we can always find Him. He walks with us through all our greater and lesser deaths.

He is also always here in the very depths of our own being, in the deepest core of our heart, with His power to renew. He lives in us as the firebird, the force that consumes and un-forms the old when its time is past. And He is the phoenix force that helps us re-form ourselves anew out of the ashes.

The grave is empty; the heart is full. For Christ has entered the very pulse of our life. The earth is living in the sun’s spirit-radiant power. For it, along with us, has been placed on the altar of the Sun-God.

www.thechristiancommunity.org

Easter Sunday 2012, Breath is Resurrection

Wolfhugel

Easter Sunday

Mark 16: 1-18

And when the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Him. And very early on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb just as the sun was rising. And they said to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?”

And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back—and it was very large. And they went into the tomb. There they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clad in a white robe; and they were beside themselves with amazement. And he said to them, “Do not be startled; you seek Jesus of Nazareth the Crucified One. He is risen; He is not here; see, there is the place where they laid Him [his body]. But go, and say to his disciples and Peter “He will lead you to Galilee. There you will see Him as He promised you.”

            And they went out and fled from the tomb in great haste, for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and being awestruck, they were unable to say anything to anyone about what they had experienced.

When He had risen early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene from whom He had driven out seven demons. And she went and told those who had walked with Him, as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, their hearts could not grasp it.

After this He appeared in another form to two of them on the way as

He Qi

they were walking over the fields. And they went back and told the rest, but they could not open their hearts to their words either.

Afterwards He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were celebrating the meal. He reproached them for their lack of openness and for their hardness of heart, because they had not wanted to believe those who had seen Him, the Risen One.

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the new message from the realm of the angels to the whole of creation. Whoever unites his heart with it  [believes] and is immersed in me [baptized] will attain the salvation. But whoever closes himself against it does not let the power of selflessness into his heart [does not let the power of My Self into his heart] will meet his downfall. And spiritual powers [these signs] will stand by those who unite themselves with it and will attend their path [believe]: Through the power of my being [in my name] they will drive out demons; they will speak a new language; serpents they will make upright, and poisons they are given to drink will not harm them. They will lay their hands on the sick, and give healing forces to them.

Easter Sunday

April 8, 2012

Mark 16:1-18

The heart is a house with many chambers and many doors. With each beat, doors open and doors close, letting in enlivened blood from the breath, and sending the spent to be renewed. Our heart is also the place where our souls and spirits reside. And the soul’s chambers also have doors.

Three days after his death, Christ appears in various unfamiliar ways to those who love Him. To the women at the tomb, He is a young man in white; to Mary Magdalene He seems to be a gardener until He calls her by name. The two on the way to Emmaus don’t recognize Him until He breaks bread. ‘Did our hearts not burn within us as he was speaking?’ they say. Yet even some of his devoted followers cannot open the soul door of their hearts to the possibility that He lives. When finally they all experience Him together, He chides them for their close-heartedness.

Collot d' Herbois

Christ is the being of Love. He says to them, to us—whoever unites his heart with the new message of Life, whoever is immersed in Me, in Love, will be healed of the rift between God and the human.

Our hearts are the key. They are the place where Love would dwell. The Sunday Service for the Children says that although Christ died, He, Love, becomes alive in the hearts of those who make room for Him there.

Every Easter His love is renewed in us. His warmth changes our heartbeat into jubilating, healing power. ‘See’, He says, ‘Here I am. I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door [of the heart] I will come in and share the holy meal with them and they with me.’ Rev 3:20 So rejoice and open. As the poet says:

Every breath is a resurrection.

…We're reborn in all the sacred parts

Of our own bodies:

the heart

… the brain

Releases its shower

Of sparks,

and the tear

Embarks on its pilgrimage

Down the cheek to meet

The smiling mouth.[1]

---

[1] ~ Gregory Orr ~ “Resurrection”, in Concerning the Book that is the Body of the Beloved

Easter 2014, Beauty by Beauty

Easter Sunday

Mark 16: 1-18

And when the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Him. And very early on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb just as the sun was rising. And they said to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?”

And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back—and it was very large. And they went into the tomb. There they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clad in a white robe; and they were beside themselves with amazement. And he said to them, “Do not be startled; you seek Jesus of Nazareth the Crucified One. He is risen; He is not here; see, there is the place where they laid Him [his body]. But go, and say to his disciples and Peter “He will lead you to Galilee. There you will see Him as He promised you.”

            And they went out and fled from the tomb in great haste, for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and being awestruck, they were unable to say anything to anyone about what they had experienced.

When He had risen early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene from whom He had driven out seven demons. And she went and told those who had walked with Him, as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, their hearts could not grasp it.

After this He appeared in another form to two of them on the way as they were walking over the fields. And they went back and told the rest, but they could not open their hearts to their words either.

Afterwards He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were celebrating the meal. He reproached them for their lack of openness and for their hardness of heart, because they had not wanted to believe those who had seen Him, the Risen One.

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the new message from the realm of the angels to the whole of creation. Whoever unites his heart with it  [believes] and is immersed in me [baptized] will attain the salvation. But whoever closes himself against it does not let the power of selflessness into his heart [does not let the power of My Self into his heart] will meet his downfall. And spiritual powers [these signs] will stand by those who unite themselves with it and will attend their path [believe]: Through the power of my being [in my name] they will drive out demons; they will speak a new language; serpents they will make upright, and poisons they are given to drink will not harm them. They will lay their hands on the sick, and give healing forces to them.

Easter Sunday

April 20, 2014

Mark 16; 1-18

Today the world begins anew. The old ways have died. Some of them may even have been beloved, and we still grieve their passing. Yet the new ways are rising. We may not yet be able to see where they are leading.  At first, in the brightness of dawn, their forms are difficult to make out; for at dawn, a path is often covered in mist, still partially hidden in darkness. But over time the new path will reveal itself; the goal will appear more and more distinct, more and more real. And with courage and joy we will step forth on the journey, the journey towards our true humanity.

For what Christ has given to us this day is—ourselves. He has given us back the possibility to become what the Father intended us to be: designed in His image, according to His beauteous likeness. Now, over lifetimes we can walk the path toward the goal of our true being.  Today we can begin again. In the words of the poet:

The red dawn now is rearranging the earth

Grunewald

Thought by thought

Beauty by beauty

Each sunrise a link in the ladder

Thought by thought

Beauty by beauty

The ladder the backbone

Of shimmering deity

Thought by thought

Beauty by beauty

Child stirring in the web of your mother

Do not be afraid

Old man turning to walk through the door

Do not be afraid[1]

---

[1] Joy Harjo,  “MORNING SONG”, from How We became Human

Easter 2013, Part of the Process

Easter Sunday

Mark 16: 1-18

He Qi

And when the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Him. And very early on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb just as the sun was rising. And they said to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?”

And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back—and it was very large. And they went into the tomb. There they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clad in a white robe; and they were beside themselves with amazement. And he said to them, “Do not be startled; you seek Jesus of Nazareth the Crucified One. He is risen; He is not here; see, there is the place where they laid Him [his body]. But go, and say to his disciples and Peter “He will lead you to Galilee. There you will see Him as He promised you.”

            And they went out and fled from the tomb in great haste, for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and being awestruck, they were unable to say anything to anyone about what they had experienced.

When He had risen early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene from whom He had driven out seven demons. And she went and told those who had walked with Him, as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, their hearts could not grasp it.

After this He appeared in another form to two of them on the way as

He Qi

they were walking over the fields. And they went back and told the rest, but they could not open their hearts to their words either.

Afterwards He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were celebrating the meal. He reproached them for their lack of openness and for their hardness of heart, because they had not wanted to believe those who had seen Him, the Risen One.

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the new message from the realm of the angels to the whole of creation. Whoever unites his heart with it  [believes] and is immersed in me [baptized] will attain the salvation. But whoever closes himself against it does not let the power of selflessness into his heart [does not let the power of My Self into his heart] will meet his downfall. And spiritual powers [these signs] will stand by those who unite themselves with it and will attend their path [believe]: Through the power of my being [in my name] they will drive out demons; they will speak a new language; serpents they will make upright, and poisons they are given to drink will not harm them. They will lay their hands on the sick, and give healing forces to them.

Easter

March 31, 2013

Gruenewald

Mark 16: 1-18

A few weeks ago the bowl of the crescent new moon could be seen in the western sky. The faint outlines of the old moon could be seen in its arms. Night by night its cup slowly filled with light until it became full of the reflected light of the sun. For us in the north, in the days to come, the sunlight will continue to increase.

Christ, the great Sun-Being, came to earth and settled into the body of Jesus.  There He shone for three years. And then He died. Jesus body became the dark of the moon, when earth, moon and sun are aligned. And He irradiated death with the light of life.

On Easter morning the three women arrive at the tomb to see, not an empty corpse, but an angel. The angel tells them that Christ Jesus, whom they love, has gone ahead of them to the beautiful life-saturated land around the sea of Galilee. 

He is not Here, Peter Callesen. 

In Christ, with His death, a new crescent moon has been born. He holds the old moon, the old earth, in his arms. His light will gradually grow until it is full.

We are a part of this process. The new crescent moon of our souls has been born again. Christ has once again entered our rejoicing pulse of life. Gradually, cycle after cycle, our souls will fill with the loving light of the Christ Sun. The sun of Christ’s light will be reflected in us. And one day, when all is aligned, humanity will have become a new order of angels. And we will be the ones to say to the kingdoms of earth: He is risen; he walks before you, leading you into life.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Picture above: “He is not there.” by paper artist Peter Callesen, after the Risen One by Gruenewald (above). Notice how the cut-out of his body appears on the frame. http://www.petercallesen.com/

4th Passiontide, Palm Sunday 2007, Brother Donkey

4^th Passiontide

Memmo

Palm Sunday

Matthew 21: 1-11

And they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage by the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus sent two disciples ahead and said to them, “Go to the village which you see before you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there and her foal with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will let you take them right away.”

This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

‘Say to the daughter of Zion,

Behold, your king comes to you in majesty.

Gentle is He, and He rides on a donkey and on a foal of the beast of burden.’

The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the foal, placed their garments on them, and Jesus sat on them.

           

Many out of the large crowd spread their clothes on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of them and followed Him shouted:

Hosanna to the Son of David!

Blessed is he who comes in the Name and Power of the Lord!

Hosannah in the highest! [Sing to Him in the highest heights!]

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is he?” The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

4^th Passiontide Sunday

Palm Sunday

April 1, 2007

Matthew 21: 1-11

This mysterious picture – Christ Jesus asks for a donkey and its foal to be brought to Him. Upon them He will ride into Jerusalem, the city of peace. Why donkeys? Why two?

Francis of Assisi famously called his body Brother Donkey. The donkeys of our bodies are the earthly means of conveyance for our souls and spirits. By nature, the donkey is stubborn and willful. For most of us, if the body decides to go somewhere, say, into illness, it is about all we can do to hang on for the ride.

Christ chooses donkeys as His means of conveyance to picture the final phase of His incarnation. He is choosing the human body as the instrument of His final battleground. His triumphal entry into Jerusalem foretells His full entry into the body of Jesus. He rides the donkey of the physical nature, both the old body, and the new immortal one he will inhabit at His resurrection. The people sense this; but their jubilation is premature. These two ‘donkeys’ are carrying Him where He wants to go – deeper into the body, into the suffering, even into the death that the body offers. Rejoicing will be appropriate days later when the body has been transformed at the Last Supper into a new form; when His suffering has borne fruit; when death has been overthrown because He has wrested human immortality from the death of matter.

Shuplyak

His body has become transformed. At the Last Supper and its iterations He wields the power to make bread and wine into His body and blood, so that He can feed us His own immortality. With His help, we too can make our sufferings fruitful. Through our connection with Him, bit by bit, we can build the new body that is not subject to death, the Christ-body that comes to life in us, through us, in our offering. 

www.thechristiancommunity.org