I’ve stayed in all day, on this Easter Sunday, practicing my usual self care and trying out a couple of new recipes. I’ve been mindful of the significance of the day however, thinking about the word resurrection and about the tomb that was found empty. I jotted down a few thoughts this morning during my free writing. And then, I found a quote by author, blogger and speaker Glennon Doyle, that perfectly matched what I was thinking about. Amazing how that happens, right?
So I will be brief today, sharing Glennon’s marvelous words and a couple of thoughts of my own.
Glennon wrote:
Beloveds! The tomb is empty! He is risen! That hopeless, tired, old stinky tomb you visit every damn day: your past, your pain, how they didn’t love you right, your failure, your addiction, that one that got away…Beloveds, there is nothing there! Stop visiting! Why do you look for the living among the dead? You have risen! You are a brand new thing! Live, live, live, live, live Beloveds!
First the pain (Good Friday), then the waiting (Saturday), then the Easter Morning rising (Easter Sunday). The crucifixion confirms, yes, life hurts. The Resurrection concludes, but Love wins!
I love a woman who isn’t afraid to end almost every sentence with an exclamation point, to show how passionately she believes what she is writing. And I appreciate her words and the imagery she creates with those words.
Jesus took care of it. In his own words he said, I have come that they may have Life, and that they might have it more abundantly. Then he showed us that death is not the end by walking out of the tomb they laid his lifeless body in.
Resurrection. From the Latin resurgere…to rise again. He did that. He got up, alive again. He did that so I might have life and have it more abundantly, more fully, without the taint and stench and fear of death hanging over me.
I am not understanding or appreciating what he did if I keep returning to the tomb of my past life to kick around the grave clothes. I am not living abundantly if I keep fretting about things that happened that I cannot change. I gave a talk once in which I said living with my focus on what was, what has passed, is like trying to steer a boat by standing at the back, the stern, my attention on where I’ve already been. That’s not helpful. I’m not going that way. I must turn around and seize this present moment and set a course.
The ghosts of my past, the failures in my past, the joys in my past…are all behind me. While useful for lessons learned and sweet memories, why would I keep returning to gaze at my past? There is nothing there. However, there is such incredible Life here and now to enjoy and to experience to the fullest. My freedom to do so has come at a great price, one that was willingly paid.
He is risen. I have risen too. I am so grateful for the empty tomb.
