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Saturday 28 March 2009

Easter words

Am taking a moment to try and contemplate the coming remembrance and celebration that is Easter. And I find I struggle. I get so caught up in the every day; it is hard to focus in the way that I would like. I would like to carve out meaningful thoughts and place them here, to help myself think on what is coming.

But of course, it is not something that happens once a year. It is something that happened once for all, for all time, and so every day I live in the reality of the crucifixion, and the resurrection. The significance of that death, that aching pause of the day inbetween, and the vindication that was the rising again.

And when I think of it, I breathe in and feel a tremor through me Рfor how I could live, not how I do live. How do I live the reality of Easter, daily? How do I remember the words without using jargon or clich̩s? There are some fantastic words which talk about what our faith means, but they are in fact such a closed language to those who do not know the meaning of them. How do I talk about it in a fresh, beautiful, heart-touching way? Where can I find a new vocabulary to recapture the meaning of truth?

We tire of cliché and jargon and all the words. We tire of the same ways of saying things. We find some concepts difficult to describe. We want to remember it all in a fresh way. I want to remember it all in a fresh way.

How do I talk about the clogging blackness that sits between God and humanity, and how the white light of what Jesus did blasts it all away? How do I talk about God and us – out of alignment, but put back in alignment with a cross? How do I talk about love which sears through evil and darkness and illuminates a whole new way of living?

Perhaps the breath of God may transform the words; perhaps I simply need to open my mouth and utter one thing, however clumsy, inept, or incoherent.

Perhaps all that matters is that I try.

4 comments:

Abigail Kraft said...

YES! I believe that very last statement says it all. "Perhaps all that matters is that I try." The fact that you yearn to find fresh words to describe it--that you want it to hold a new, untouched power and potency in the execution of your words--says it all. Cliches become tiresome, but what we need to do is change our perspective--shedding all of the feelings of "I've-heard-that-before" and really considering the meaning of these fantastic words.

I definitely feel what you're saying, and I'm so glad to find somebody else searching for words. :)

Thanks for the awesome post!
In His arms,
--Abigail

Lora said...

Very well written, and I also am in resounding agreement with the last line :0)

Sarah said...

Brilliantly written! I'm not a regular church goer, but I do believe in the after life and do read the Bible to the girls, as the messages of how to live a good life are just so powerful.

You're words really touched me in a deep way and I shall try to convey the sentiment of Easter through them to the girls. I have read them passages from children's Bibles - but even then the language the the story is too hard for them to grasp at such a young age. They obviously have lots of questions about 'The Cross' and don't really know what it actually meant. I try more to focus on the fact that Jesus was a good man who through his death showed everyone the power of life and a connection to something that, truly is, too hard to put into words. It is more of a feeling and that is something I can only hope the girls will feel as the grow - I actually think many children are more aware of the connection than some adults - they just have no comprehension or words yet to describe it - and then, sadly, on the passage into adulthood many lose that feeling.

When Charli was a 3 month old baby, crying restlessly on a walk, a wonderful stranger approached me (I was at my wits end with sleep deprivation and the whole newness of motherhood) and with a comforting hand on my shoulder and a few kind words bathed me in a light of hope.

Likewise, when Sophie was 6 month's old, I was sat at a table by the beach, next to a Buddhist Monk. He turned around and looked with a beautiful smile directly at Sophie. She returned his gaze with such intensity. I was so aware of the energy transferring between them. He then turned to smile at me. Few words were exchanged. We knew that none were needed. There was such energy.

Thanks for 'trying' - you do more than that, you really have a gift for words and so much to share.

Sarah

Anonymous said...

very interesting moo cha cha..hmmmm...

"The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people."- Richard Foster