New Beginning
[Jesus] uttered a triumphant cry: “It is accomplished!” and it was as though he had said: “Everything has begun!”
Nikos Kazantzakis,The Last Temptation of Christ
On a Morning Like This
In the sky
The song of the skylark
Greets the dawn
In the fields wet with dew
The scent of the violets
Fills the air
On such a lovely morning as this
Surely on such a lovely morning
as this Lord Jesus
Came forth
From the tomb.
Misuna Genzo in John Carden, A Procession of Prayers
It’s a Fact
[T]here really is no story about the Resurrection in the New Testament. Except in the most fragmentary way, it is not described at all. There is no poetry about it. Instead, it is simply proclaimed as a fact. Christ is risen! In fact, the very existence of the New Testament itself proclaims it. Unless something very real indeed took place on that strange, confused morning, there would be no New Testament, no Church, no Christianity.
Frederick Buechner,The Magnificent Defeat
Ever Present Christ
Christ is in the midst of us!
He is, and ever shall be!
Russian Orthodox Acclamation
Time to Rise Up
How fair and lovely is the hope which the Lord gave to the dead when He laid down like them beside them.Rise up and come forth and sing praise to Him who has raised you from destruction.
Syrian Orthodox Liturgy
Empty Church
The power of God is now and has always been the power to raise us from the dead. Period. It is not about us. It is about God. Our only role is to stick our feet straight up in the air and admit that without God we might as well be put to bed with a shovel. Now that is a message that can empty a church out fast.
Barbara Brown Taylor, God in Pain
The Best Is Yet to Come
[A woman] diagnosed with a terminal illness called on her pastor to plan her funeral. She had some ideas about what she hoped would happen, but she was insistent about one thing: “I want to be buried with a fork in my hand.”Her incredulous pastor demanded an explanation. “Oh, it’s quite simple,” the woman said. “In all my years of attending church socials and potlucks, I always remember that, when they clear the dishes, someone will say, ‘Keep your fork.’ It’s my favorite part, because I know something better is coming. So I want people to see me there in that coffin with a fork in my hand and know: ‘Her best is still to come.’ “
J. Lorne Peachey,The Mennonite
Risen Indeed
We did not merely say “Be good, come to church.” We did not merely say “Keep the commandments” but above all, “Christ is risen, Christ is risen.”
Thomas Merton,Thoughts in Solitude
Related Elsewhere
See also our “Reflections on Good Friday“, also posted today on ChristianityToday.com.
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