Memorial United Methodist Church

Of all the mysteries our faith invites us to contemplate, the Resurrection is by far the most astonishing … The very idea of resurrections shatters all the categories of comprehension with which we make sense of our world. It draws us instead into a reality that transcends present possibility … For a day we live liturgically into the truths that we glimpsed off and on during the Lenten season. God’s reign of justice and peace becomes ours. Mercy overflows. Wounds are healed. Love, tender and limitless and astonishing, embraces us. It is the custom of the Christian community in Tanzania at the close of the vigil to dance until the coming of Easter dawn. What better way to celebrate the feast of feasts: to dance for sheer joy!

This is a quote from Wendy M. Wright, writing in a first possibility for encountering the resurrection this year. Journeying Through the Days – 2008: A Calendar and Journal for Personal Reflection, is a resource for those of us who like to journal in our devotions.

There is a second possibility, also based on the lectionary. Some of us don’t find journaling meaningful or we don’t know how to do it. We are readers and thinkers. Use The Upper Room Disciplines, which gives us seven devotions each week written by a sister or brother of the faith. Each day includes a selected Bible reading, a meditation of the scripture and a closing prayer of suggestion for reflection. We have both of these in the office. Pick one up and give it a try.

Here is a third way to get into the resurrection story this Easter. Read the entire chapter of John 20. Consider four of the principal people in this chapter. With which one of these four people do you most identify?

John. He saw and believed. That’s it. He looked at the empty tomb and figured it all out. Jesus is Risen!

Thomas. He didn’t see and he didn’t believe. He couldn’t figure it out but was willing to struggle with the idea of the resurrection, as long as he had empirical evidence.

Peter. He saw the empty tomb and was confused. He couldn’t figure it out. He decided to get on with his life, going back to Galilee to his old home and old job.

Mary. She saw the empty tomb and was confused. She couldn’t figure out how she would live without Jesus. She affirmed the risen Jesus when she encountered him and heard him speak her name.

These are three ways to prepare for our celebration on Easter morning. Give one a try.