Now we are in the darkness before Jesus appeared to Mary. He is still in the tomb as far as anyone knows. Have we not had this black hole within us? Have we not felt betrayed and alone? Not to mention that the disciples all deserted him before he was hung on those two pieces of wood.
Today’s world has need of this teaching, just not the Sunday school version of it. In that version, church members get to wear new outfits and the children get Easter baskets. As a child, I loved getting an Easter basket and new clothes. We even got hats!
Each one of us knows how alone we are and how in our darkest hour, we are numb and silent. Waiting for God to reveal Himself, to rise from the grave so that we can rejoice.
Today, the world here in the States is crumbling as fast as a stale cake. Politicians just may be the downfall of America, who is headed towards the grave. The nails in its coffin are the brutality that ravaged our capitol and the pharisees making new laws that are criminal from the start. America the Beautiful is looking ragged around the edges. The Jesus in the churches can do us no good as we weep for what was.
Those of us on the way back home know where we belong and it is not in the tomb. We may not have stepped out fully into the light but we are leaving the darkness behind us. We recognize the few others in our ragtag band. We sit alone with our rage against the politicians, knowing that we cannot do anything but wait on our higher power to embrace us. And it will.
I have been pounding out these essays for the longest time. I am typing myself out of the darkness, which seems so very, very real. “That they wait on God shall renew their strength.” We shall be lifted on wings of eagles when the time is right.
What will the other shore be like? Probably just like this one except you realize that there are no others and that Jesus has become “the Christ in you, the hope of glory.” This is not a sectarian belief but the living truth of who we are.
It is not for us to take a stand anywhere but within our own solitude. That is where the ascension takes place. Hallelujah.
Vicki Woodyard
Hallelujah. What a beautiful, honest message just before Easter. The descriptions of our times matching up to the times of the Lord’s execution were brilliant and devastating (because they were then and they are now the most devastating of times). We need to wait on God for the renewal of our strength, our hope and our trust. As you often write, we need to be silent and (as you wrote today) our Comforter shall embrace us and give us peace — His peace.
Peace and blessings unto you, dear Vicki.
Yes, we are in perilous waters. “And Jesus was a sailor” is one of the phrases in Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne.”
“And Jesus was a sailor when he walked upon the water
And he spent a long time watching from his lonely wooden tower
And when he knew for certain only drowning men could see him
He said all men will be sailors then until the sea shall free them
But he himself was broken, long before the sky would open
Forsaken, almost human, he sank beneath your wisdom like a stone
And you want to travel with him, and you want to travel blind
And then you think maybe you’ll trust him
For he’s touched your perfect body with his mind”