Under the surface

Luke 23:50-54

The Burial of Jesus

Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph, who, though a member of the council, had not agreed to their plan and action. He came from the Jewish town of Arimathea, and he was waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid it in a rock-hewn tomb where no one had ever been laid. It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning.

And so the earth lies silent

The last nail has been hammered

The last jeer has been shouted

The wood that hoisted him high

has been splintered

accompanied by the tearing

of the temple curtain.

The heavy tombstone

has been rolled into place.

Silence reigns.

But that silence conceals

something so incendiary

just waiting to burst into life.

The tomb becomes a womb

from which life will explode

when the time is right.

In the desolation

and in the darkness

God wrestles new life into being.

But for now,

The silence of the rock-hewn tomb.

One step at a time

This year, walking the Labyrinth has taken on a new meaning and I'm finding metaphors for the rawness of change that has affected my sense of identity and place in ministry.

Putting one foot in front of the other

Keeping to the path laid out.

Finding stations along the way

in which to rest

and reflect.

Gathering strength to go on

with renewed insight.

Wrestling with twists and turns.

Carrying burdens from the past.

Remembering those who also journey

companions new and old

Pilgrims together 

Meeting in the centre

At the cross

that speaks of love

and grace

and forgiveness

and affirmation.

The cross

that testifies

to a God

who can transform

human depravity

snatching life

from the jaws of death.

The cross 

in which God proclaimed

that evil does not have

the last word

but that grace transforms

even death

and that God continues to offer

a way back

to fullness of life.

Get real

Luke 19:45-46

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there;

and he said, “It is written,

‘My house shall be a house of prayer’;

but you have made it a den of robbers.”

As we see Jesus angry,

Overturning tables

Shooing out those

who desecrated the house of prayer.

We get it.

We who try to turn from

Easter bunnies and bonnet parades

and chocolate extravaganzas

to the somber melancholy

of Holy Week.

Out of sorts with the rest of the world

We get it

when Jesus calls folk back

to meaning and purpose

and to love.

We get it.