Easter Sunday

There is a most profound question that is raised on Easter Morning.  It is posed by two men in dazzling garments who appear in a tomb, a burial chamber, to people who have come to verify the presence of a corpse.  The shock must have been incredible and the question more than compelling.  They asked, "Why do you seek the living one among the dead?"  This remains as intriguing now as it was two thousand years ago.  There is an empty tomb where we expected an abomination.  There are angels when we anticipated the horrific.  There is new life where we foresaw death.

We are called out of bondage on Easter.  We are called out of our narrow thinking and limited perspective into a new dimension of understanding.  It transcends the boundaries of religion, government and ideas about ourselves.  We are called to a new life without the comfort of "black and white" even to the extent that death is no longer death.  Earthbound eyes can no longer be fully trusted.  The spiritual experience is no longer separate or something that happens outside of us.  We don't have to wait for an apocalypse to find salvation.  The salvation has already been given freely to one and to all.  The kingdom and Easter are within each of us right here...right now.

New Beginnings

Easter and Passover remind us that we have the incredible opportunity to begin again with each sunrise.  The things that did not turn out well, disappointments, tragedies and troubles of yesterday have vanished into thin air.  The new beginning is here and now.  How can we ever imagine the amazing things that might happen if we fully participate in the process of today as it unfolds?  We drop the idea of expectations and adopt an attitude of gratitude.  Of course good things will happen and some tough ones too.  The outcomes are determined by our positive thinking and resolution of beginning anew.

Walter Winchel once said that we should: "Remember today, for it is the beginning of always. Today marks the start of a brave new future filled with all your dreams can hold. Think truly to the future and make those dreams come true.”   We give up on dreams too easily.  They take a back seat to the daily grind of obligations.  I once had a young patient who was struggling with very painful issues of abuse and addiction.  He was only 14.  The gritty determination to be well that he had was inspiring.  At the close of his treatment he was on the road to real healing.  His mother asked for a few moments after his last session.  She thanked me for all of the help and began to weep.  What would become of her when Shane graduated from high school in a few years and she was left alone?  Her whole life had been dedicated, as a single Mom, to raising her only child.  Her dreams of becoming an attorney had dissolved along with her marriage years ago.  I asked her a simple question.  What would it take to start studying to be a lawyer right now?  She was dumbfounded.  That was a ridiculous question.  She could only possibly work in one class a semester (and that would be damn hard).  It would take ten years at least.  I asked another question followed by a statement.  What will happen if you don't do it?  In ten years you will be alone, working at a job that you hate.  Or you can be a lawyer in ten years.  The choice is yours.  She looked at me strangely, thanked me, and left.

I was living in the mountains of North Carolina three years after that conversation in Champaign, Illinois with Shane and his mother.  I got a phone call one evening and it was Shane.  He was bubbling over with news that he had just graduated from high school.  I congratulated him and told him how proud I was.  We talked for a few minutes and he asked if I would like to say hello to his Mom.  I agreed and he put her on the phone.  We were both thrilled for her boy.  Then she told me her own great story.  She had pursued the idea that we had talked about three years ago and things had gone well.  Very well.  Her announcement floored me.  She was going to sit for the Illinois Bar that summer.  Her dreams had come true.  Her positive spin on 'can do and will do' had changed her life.

The next time we face a difficulty we have a chance to wrestle with a ‘can do and will do’ state of mind.  We ‘can and will’ improve our situation rather than agonize over it.  We ‘can and will’ have the life that we have dreamed of having.  The only thing that can stop us is giving in and giving up. 

Easter Sunday

Our Monarch After First Flight ~ Photo by Steve Magin

There is something new that is happening! There is a light that has broken through the darkness. The new dawn and new day of Easter bring good news. It has been affirmed that our troubles, worries and fears have been overcome with love. Loneliness and sadness are banished. There is something more than death. Life has been revitalized. We can no longer doubt the truth of our identities. Each of us is the beloved child of God.

We walked through gardens yesterday in Memphis that celebrate spring with a display of more than 20,000 tulips. The soil, mild winters and hot summers of the south do not allow the bulbs to live from year to year. People have gone to great lengths and made tremendous sacrifice to dig and plant these brilliant bulbs that are perennial in the north. They are just going to rot and die. Why would they bother when there are so many other blooming plants that are native to the area? They do it to provide beauty and happiness in greater measure than it could have been experienced otherwise. Their visitors, most of whom are complete strangers to them, will find the brilliant greeting of glorious flowers in a land that does not support them. What a gift!

Why would God go to all of the trouble to give us Easter in an empty tomb? Perhaps it is because we are regarded that deeply. Perhaps it was to demonstrate that there is nothing more important than our relationship with Him. It is even more. It is an eternal love letter for one and for all that has been signed, sealed and delivered. What a gift! What an amazing day!

Life Is Good

There is a new life that presents itself each spring. Something magnificent, marvelous, extraordinary and sensational is going to happen. Like the sometimes slow and subtle emergence of spring, however, we often have to look for the little signs. There might just be a moment or there might be an explosion of happiness but a miracle will unfold if we are only willing to bear witness. The suffering and death that is experienced in winter have given way to new life. We cannot deny this reality.

There is always something hidden that holds the promise that is stronger than any despair or suffering that we have experienced. Our being open to possibilities rather than confining ourselves to limitations is a key to finding an end to desolation. We can begin to face the reality that life is made up of seasons. There is often great courage required in going through distress and difficulties. It is, however, going through them that allows us to survive and to find new hope. We will discover that where we had least expected there is light and a green shoot or blossom. We will develop a trust that God’s love is stronger than anything that we might encounter. His loving presence can be found in the midst of jealousy, resentment, revenge hatred and even death itself. It is this trust that allows us to carry on with a spirit of optimism and appreciation.

Spring is here.  Passover and Easter are coming!  Life Is Good!

The Expectation of Easter

Renewal and new beginnings are among the promises offered by Easter. The most compelling mystery of the season for many of us is the truth of unconditional love. This is a difficult proposition for us to understand because of our continual criticism of self and of others. Even thornier is the challenge that Jesus proposes to "be compassionate as your Father is compassionate". We are forgiven for our transgressions and we are called to forgive in the same measure. Our experience of love from other people has often been conditional and transitory. God's love is neither of these. It is a gift freely given for one and for all. No questions asked.

Henri Nouwen writes: "I am beginning now to see how radically the character of my spiritual journey will change when I no longer think of God as hiding out and making it as difficult as possible for me to find him, but, instead, as the one who is looking for me while I am doing the hiding. When I look through God's eyes at my lost self and discover God's joy at my coming home, then my life may become less anguished and more trusting." (From The Return of The Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming)

The spiritual path leads us to a place in which we find ourselves worthy of God's love. It allows us to begin to see ourselves as His beloved child, unblemished as the day we were born. Easter is a time of anticipation and expectation. Not just our anticipation and expectation. We are being anticipated and expected by the Father. He longs to see us coming to Him.

Expectations & Shakeups

Probably the most amazing thing about Easter and about Recovery is the reversal of expectations. The situation on Good Friday and Holy Saturday is stark and raw. Nothing is going to change this reality. People and their families who are in the whirlwind of addiction can imagine no end to the downward spiral that is smashing and destroying everything in its path. You wake up in the morning with expectations that everything is going to be the same and the most amazing thing has happened. There is an empty tomb. The one who was dead is alive. And even better than that…everything is going to be okay. Better than okay!

Who’d ‘a thunk it? Who would believe it? In one brush stroke the world view changes from black and white to color. It is like the scene from the Wonderful Wizard of Oz when the film changes from Kansas to Munchkinland. Color everywhere. The storm is over. The witch is dead. How did it all happen? The truth is that things had been set in motion for some time but we were unaware. The miracle was waiting for today. The miracle is today.

We respond to this shakeup with awe. The new world at our feet is boundless. The promises are fulfilled in each step forward. Recovery from addiction and salvation from bondage are virtually one in the same. Senator Barack Obama talks about the Audacity of Hope. There is also an Audacity of Easter and an Audacity of Recovery. Life is new and we have the power of change in every step that we take.

Feed My Sheep...A Holy Week Reflection

The story of Holy Thursday and early morning Good Friday are so filled with our human experience. It is hard not to identify with what is happening here because it is a story of success, celebration, love, bitterness, confusion, resentment, fear, anger and sadness. The full range of experience is contained in some twelve hours. The most incredible part for me, however, is that even this story ends in complete and unconditional forgiveness. It is among my favorite images.

At the end of the day in all of his human weakness and frailty, Peter denies and betrays his best friend. Not once, but three times. It has been offered up that the third time was in earshot of Jesus and that he turned to meet the eyes his brother. Peter must have expected sad disappointment in that gaze… or some fire of condemnation. Rather, those eyes were filled with compassion, love and understanding. There is a Russian Icon of Jesus that captures that moment which can be found in a book called “Behold The Beauty of The Lord” by Henri Nouwen. I am so moved by this painting. Peter retreats in shame. His forgiveness is reinforced several days later by a risen Christ who recalls the three denials with three questions, “Do you love me?” When these questions are followed by the directive, “Feed my Sheep”, Peter is given charge of the followers.

This is the powerful forgiveness and charge that is given to us today. We are called regardless of who or what we are. Called to rise above that which is ordinary and easy. Called to be useful to others. Called to service. We are frail, broken, tragic and lost…but in the final analysis…forgiven and loved. Forgiven and loved beyond any limitations of our thinking and imagination. This is a truth that we can all celebrate.

New Beginnings

Twelve years ago my wife Bonita and I left the office of our friend, Fr. Carl DelGiudice. The words that he gave us were powerful. “You are now as pure as the driven snow”. This spiritual affirmation guided us to our marriage ceremony at the beautiful outdoor chapel called "Pretty Place" at the Eastern Continental Divide with views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and lush Spring valleys of the Carolinas. We retraced our steps this weekend, attending Holy Saturday services in Brevard with Fr. Carl and then visiting Pretty Place this morning. It is Easter and we begin again. It is an illusion to think that anything else could be true, really.

The promise of new beginnings is that they are introduced at every turn. Not only do they shine in the morning sun but also emerge from the shadowy places. We have only to reach out and seize the opportunities that they present. Easter confirms this reality. The tomb is empty. Everything is new. The music of the flowery April sings in every moment that we live. When we fully comprehend this, even in a bleak December, we can embrace the fact that we are...as pure as the driven snow.