12 posts tagged “resurrection”

Night blooming cereus ~ Midnight resurrection

Jul 12, 2009
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I've added a new photo as a my profile picture, a no-flash late night photo of a night blooming cereus - that wonderfully fabulous succulent-cactus that blooms only at night, on a cycle that someone told me is lunar-based. It's flower, fit for crowning Carmen Miranda, and large enough, is like a firework explosion.

Hylocereus undatus

Every day I pass by Punahou school - which takes on a bit more than a full block, failing to notice regularly the green cacti lining its wall. Yesterday, I saw a couple taking a photo during the day, but was on the way home from dinner and a movie with a friend when he pointed out the cereus, and its beautiful blooms - a block long spray of flowers fit for a royal parade.

Of course, everything creation sings God's praise, but this reminds me a little of the story of creation - the waiting, the ignoring, the ignorance of the fomentation occurring - until suddenly one finds the most extravagant message of love blooming our of the middle of the night, having been there all along, though we never allowed ourselves to imagine the outpouring of

Hylocereus undatus with flash

such a gift, nor that it would be from a prickly cactus, or happen in the darker hours - but isn't that when the brightness of the light of Christ is most piercing, when it emerges in contrast to what we perceive as our darkest night?

Maybe we need to become like Nicodemus, and when our heart is troubling us at night, go and seek out the One who brings our heart to bloom.

Proposal for Gitmo

Jan 20, 2009
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So, God willing, President Obama will shut down Gitmo.

That will create a tomb - an empty old shell of our nation's darker side.

Perhaps a way to participate in a little resurrection work is to transform Gitmo from a giant human rights violation to a jointly run Cuban-US Center for the Study of Non-violence and Reconciliation.

I'm such a hippy.

Resurrection: Fanfare for the Common Man

Jul 25, 2008
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I was going to call Mississippi Public Radio (affilliate of NPR) and ask them to play Fanfare for the Common Man by Copeland. My Uncle Ron+ used to do that every July 4th. He knew beauty, and he appreciated the common person, the folks who are neglected or ignored. He served them.

Today is the feast of St. James, but it is also a festival for the celebration of the new life in Christ Ron+ enters into ever more deeply.

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These flowers were blooming at an albergue I visited. Before I left, the blooms had come and gone. Like Ron, they bloomed for a short time, and gave beauty and joy. Now we are blessed with memories that will linger with us, and us with them, and a better life for having shared the moment with a precious gift from God.

If you have a story about my Uncle Ron, feel free to post it as a comment (or a link to your blog).

Depart, O Christian soul, out of this world;

Jul 21, 2008
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In the Name of God the Father Almighty who created you;

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In the Name of Jesus Christ who redeemed you;

In the Name of the Holy Spirit who sanctifies you.

May your rest be this day in peace,

and your dwelling place in the Paradise of God.

This is a difficult blog to write, but it is my way of celebrating the life of my uncle Ron+, who has entered eternal life on the feast of the resurrection! I believe in the communion of Saints, and so offer an Alleluia for him. But it is a staccato and determined alleluia, syncapated with all the emotions of parting from someone you love, and pray, "Lord I believe, help my unbelief!" It is an Alleluia that says to me, "Michael, you'll want to hear this."

We know our relationships are not our own, we are stewards of them. Yet, unlike the material goods of this world, they become part of us, and we are who we are because they are and were who God created them to be.

As a pastor, Ron+ was a role model for me. As an intellectual, someone with whom I enjoyed talking, and to whom I turned for counsel. As a preacher, true to the gospel with great oratory skill; a fine story-weaver. As an uncle, a support and friend. As an elder in the church, the person who held me as an infant and baptized me into my life in Christ. He was the first person who introduced me to chocolate covered Oreo's (C), and knew a foretaste of heaven when he tasted it. His gumbo contained unidentifiable parts, but like God's kingdom, everything went in. Sometimes it was best not to ask questions.

He always had a two dollar bill for us youngsters. Even when we were way beyond being called youngster, a sign of his generosity, and ways he was ready to support people in need.

When I travelled, he asked me to piddle (not his exact words, which were much more specific and monosyllabic), on a mountain and think about him. That's a great way to be remembered, ask someone to think of you every time you do something basic and fundamental for our human bodies. He knew that Christ did that in asking us to remember him every time we broke bread, and Uncle Ron helped me think about the fact that every time we broke bread, we were doing that: remembering Jesus.

His way of leading our family in prayer is one of my fondest memories. Giving thanks to God for crickets and lolipops and grandparents and our favorite pet critter was always included by him, and he never left out the things we mentioned when he would offer up a typically Ron prayer: the kind that God could laugh at and take seriously at the same time. In leading us in prayer, he paid attention to the children and took us seriously. Also like his Lord, Jesus Christ.

In the days ahead the family will gather and I will miss deeply the opportunity to be with them in body as I continue in my journey here in Spain, and then Kenya. If there were a way to get home, I most certainly would. But I'll carve out a sacred space or kneel where prayer has already been heard to dwell fondly on memories that have shaped me, memories of my Uncle and friend, St. Ron+, his transitus into paradise, and into the arms of the Lord to whom he devoted his life. Let light perpetual shine upon him+. Pray for my family and me as we mourn, celebrate, and commend to God our father, sibling, uncle, husband, pastor, friend, and in Christ our brother Ron+

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Into paradise may the angels lead you. In your coming may the martyrs receive you, and may they guide you into that holy city, Jerusalem. May the chorus of angels receive you, and with Lazarus, once poor, may you have eternal rest.

Saint Thurgood the Just

Apr 30, 2008
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477px-Thurgood-marshall-2

Establish justice within the gate!

I love being Episcopalian. We don't canonize saints per se, but we do take time to celebrate feasts in honor of those whose lives teach us a little something about the Gospel. Thurgood Marshall is as good a person as any.

His life symbolizes the many lives of those who work for justice, God's justice for all people, and who's life is an example to us.

Members of his church in DC, St. Augustine, are lifting him up to the Episcopal Church to add to their calendar of lesser feasts and fasts . Join me on May 17th in remembering his ministry as a justice on the US Supreme Court during our prayers to God.

Here are the propers for proposed for him:

Collect:

Eternal and Ever-Gracious God, you blessed your servant Thurgood with special gifts of grace and courage to understand and speak the truth as it has been revealed to us by Jesus Christ. Grant that by his example we may also know you and seek to realize that we are all your children, brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, whom you sent to teach us to love one another; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.

Suggested scripture for May 17:

Amos 5:10-15, 21-24

Psalm 34:15-22

I Corinthians 13:1-13

Matthew 23:1-11

Resurrection Station III

Apr 29, 2008
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The disciples notice the folded linen

Resurrection

We live out Alleluias

because by your resurrection we will live forever.

The fact that John the Evangelist (John 20) made mention of the cloth that had wrapped Christ’s head was folded – this has stood out to me for a long time. Why that little detail?

Intention. Intentionality.

That the linen is folded is for me a little detail of intentionality. Here I reveal my lack of shame at being a firm believer in the Triune God. I imagine God the Father and God the Spirit huddled together over the dead body of the Incarnate One. I can almost see God the Father, at first the Steadfast-heart downcast, looking at the corpse of humanity. But then a smirk. Almost, perhaps, a faint giggle. God takes off the final cloth and looks into the cold, dead eyes of Love crucified. A pause to fold that linen and set it aside.

And then, a deep breath inhaled, taking in all that bad and death. Then an exhale: with the breath that breathed all that is into motion, the Holy Spirit hovers over the nostrils, and death is dead, life is won. Jesus is risen!

Revel in the intentionality with which God breathes the life of Love into the nostrils of our hearts.

Carefully folded in Love

Our hearts wrapped up in God’s

Into us new life descends

And alites, God’s Dove

Stations of the Resurrection, III Folded Linens

Apr 22, 2008
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This is to whet you're pallet, but I'll write more soon!

1aaaalinen

John 20:3-7

Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went towards the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself.

Resurrection II

Apr 8, 2008
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The Marys arrives at the tomb with spices

We live out Alleluias

because by your resurrection we will live forever.

Chalkguy Ben Glenn - Empty Tomb

The Marys arrived at the tomb with their embalming spices just in time for an earthquake. They went to find a dead body, but what they found was a most profound emptiness. In Sheri Holman's, The Stolen Tongue, the main character Felix (based on a historical figure) is on his way to Jerusalem and the holy sepulcher. Locked in the church overnight, the pilgrim finds a few brief moments to be alone in the empty tomb and recalls that he has been taught that this place is the center of the world. And it's empty. One of the holiest spaces in Christianity is emptiness.

There in emptiness, the pilgrim Felix suggests that pilgrims for a thousand years had come to download their sins, to leave them behind. And there is room for the sins of another thousand years.

Only in God-with-us can we find the loneliness of emptiness transformed into life, transformed into a place where we can drop our brokenness, our crucifixions, our crucifyings, and all that is not life in us and find them lost the vastness of resurrection-life.

Lord Jesus, there are moments when our emptiness seemes to consume us. Set your angels in our hearts to proclaim the fullness of your resurrection within us. Amen.

Empty dark within our hearts,

First space for death to die

Where the Savior once did lie,

Son-Light life imparts.

Stations of the Resurrection, part I

Apr 1, 2008
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Enya - Only Time

Found on you-tube: warnerbrosrecords's post.

Station I

We live out Alleluias,

because by your resurrection we will live forever.

Before his crucifixion, Jesus says to his disciples, "A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me" (John 16:16). Earlier, he had said, "I will not leave you desolate; i will come to you. Yet in a little while, and the world will see me no more, but you will see me; because I live, you will live also" (John 14:18).

There are moments when we seem to be alone on our journey, moments when we have veered away from our fellow pilgrim, Jesus. Or times when we feel like Jesus has left us alone. It feels like Jesus is gone for a little while. But if we are patient, if we look with the eyes of our heart, those moments will quickly pass, and we will see again the risen Lord. While in his human death, Jesus was gone for a short time into the tomb, in his returning, we are invited to live into the promise of his return - that in a short while, we will see him. Post-resurrection by a couple thousand years, we followers of Jesus aim to walk with him. However, seeing Jesus is another a matter. When we blink with our heart's eyes, we can catch a glimpse of Jesus. Between these moments, we must cultivate faith, hope and love, by which we will come to gain our spirit's sight. This in-between time provides a space where we can collaborate with mystery, and explode in creative trust. Can we let go of our images, expectations and desires for Jesus, so that God can till the soil of our soul?

Jesus, there are moments when we have abandoned you, or feel abandoned by you. Help us never lose sight of your love for us. Amen.

Autumn's colors signal leaving,

first green shoots are promises kept.

In the Resurrection, Lord has lept.

Salvation leafing.