Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

What joy there is in those words. Our Lord was resurrected so that we, too, might have opportunity after opportunity to be resurrected ourselves. Resurrected from lives of sin, from our short sightedness, from our self-centeredness. Jesus asked Peter three times, "Simon Peter, Do you love me," not out of some deep-seated Divine Insecurity; Jesus offered the question three times so Peter himself might crawl out from under his own three denials of Jesus. So it is with us. Jesus offering us endless chances to turn our denials into good; endless opportunities to answer God's call to us. That we too might claim the power to effect change in this broken and wonderful world.

God has great plans for us.

All the people of the world are God’s children; all of them. As Christians, we must seek and recognize the face of Christ in each one. “Peter, do you love me?" "Then love them.” Jesus said. Love them.

Let it be so, in the name of the resurrected Christ. Alleluia!

Good Friday Musings

The gospel passage was unbearably long, this time from John's Gospel. We heard, again, of Peter's three denials, and felt his chagrin when that cock crowed -- again. We felt Pilate's frustration as he tried to free Jesus, finding no case against him. We empathized with Jesus as they dressed him in a purple robe and mocked him. And then the brutality of a crucifixion, the sponge full of sour wine. Who wants sour wine to slake thirst?

And then............

"He bowed his head and gave up his spirit."

What if......

What if we followed Christ's example"

What if we bowed our heads and gave up our spirits?

What if we gave up our spirits of acquisitiveness and self congratulation?

What if we gave up our need to control and manipulate?

What if we bowed our heads, and took on, instead, the Spirit of God dwelling within us?

What if?