ORDINARY RESSURECTIONS

We find ourselves in the midst of spring, perhaps the one time of year when the word “resurrection” is used in public discourse.  Coming back to life from the dead doesn’t happen every day, you know.  It may not happen at all.  Think about it: how would you use “resurrection” in a sentence?

There’s virtually no word from this word all year until the thump-thump-thumping of the Easter Bunny beats a b-line to my door.  Only then do graves fly open and spirits soar.  But it doesn’t have to be that way; we can look for new life rising from old corpses any day of the week, every day of the year.  We can experience ordinary resurrections.

I think of the CASA worker who stayed the course with a difficult child and witnessed his hard heart soften, his tired eyes sparkle, and his trust slowly build.  Today he is preparing for adoption and will soon meet his “forever family.”  The young man literally rose up beyond his circumstances and will forever live in new and meaningful ways.

I think of the yoga teacher who cautiously entered the prison system with a mat and a smile, intending to help inmates alleviate stress and connect with their inner spirits.  It was rough going at first, lots of taunts and jabs, but our yogini kept her fear at bay long enough to know the inmates as individuals.  That’s when everything changed.  No longer a “nuisance,” prisoners began sharing with their teacher future hopes they simply could not envision for themselves previously.  Now living makes sense.

I think of the executive who was laid off far too long to believe he would ever work again.  Money was tight, time was running out, and nerves were frayed when a better job finally landed on his lap.  Or the teacher who could not get hired in the public schools and was ready to give up the ghost of teaching until he scored a position—in Saudi Arabia.  This resurrection was never on his radar, a gift from the Universe, but now he tells me he has found his purpose in life.

With these examples, all of whom are members of churches I’ve served, we can use the word “resurrection” freely and accurately.  Life arises out of death each time we proclaim our liberal religious “Yes!” even when circumstances shout No.  Expect a resurrection: Just as long as I have breath, I must answer, “Yes,” to life, says the hymn.  That’s music to my resurrected ears.

The joy continues,

Greg