Today the weather has been lovely and we have spent some time in the garden. The sky has been a glorious blue and clouds have been sweeping along on the wind. The washing has dried and the birds have been singing their little hearts out in the trees. It has been really nice.
How very different from how we imagine that day when Jesus was in the tomb: how very sad and grieving were his family and friends, his disciples and his followers. So much promise, so many hopes, all dashed as he died on the cross yesterday. Today his body lies in the tomb, safe behind the massive rock that was placed at the entrance.
Today I have read reflections which have said that yes, that rock was there to keep Jesus' body safe from grave robbers who may have wanted to take it away, but other reflections saw that rock as symbolic to the obstacles in our way during our lives, the burdens that hold us back. Perhaps you can see both sides of that? I can, but I think I prefer today to think of the rock as holding Jesus' body safe whilst the battle raged for Christ to overcome death and to be resurrected. That resonates for me with the current war we are waging against corona virus - and all our front doors are shut tight to keep us safe whilst the scientists and frontline workers do battle on our behalf, just as Christ did back then.
To be shut in a tomb would be a nightmare for someone who suffers from claustrophobia, a dark place with no light, no air, no windows, and no easy way out. There are a number of films in which people get locked in mausoleums, and I have every sympathy for those characters. I woke up one morning this week in the early hours, got up and flung open the window, muttering, "I must have air!" before getting back into bed. We sleep in pitch blackness with blackout blinds, and the windows are usually closed: the OH doesn't sleep well and is sensitive to every noise and possible disturbance. This isn't the way I want to sleep but one has to make sacrifices for those one loves, at least occasionally! But I can imagine that a tomb would be like that - dark and airless - and how desperately one who was alive would want to escape... And we want this experience now to be over, we want to be able to get out and live in the world again, free to see our friends and family, to be able to travel and enjoy life - this lockdown feels like incarceration to some, I am hearing, and I am so sorry for those who feel like that.
Just as we are promised that Sunday is coming, that Resurrection is coming, that the resurrected Christ is coming, we can be sure that the end of this lockdown will come eventually. The question for me is one of wondering how we will be different after it? The Risen Christ is different from Jesus, and the world, for the disciples at least, is different once they know that Christ has risen - how will we find the world when we emerge again? It is going to take longer than tomorrow morning for us, but will we be ready? Can we take hold of all the lessons of community spirit, of caring for one another, of generosity and appreciation, and live differently in a post-pandemic world?
How very different from how we imagine that day when Jesus was in the tomb: how very sad and grieving were his family and friends, his disciples and his followers. So much promise, so many hopes, all dashed as he died on the cross yesterday. Today his body lies in the tomb, safe behind the massive rock that was placed at the entrance.
Today I have read reflections which have said that yes, that rock was there to keep Jesus' body safe from grave robbers who may have wanted to take it away, but other reflections saw that rock as symbolic to the obstacles in our way during our lives, the burdens that hold us back. Perhaps you can see both sides of that? I can, but I think I prefer today to think of the rock as holding Jesus' body safe whilst the battle raged for Christ to overcome death and to be resurrected. That resonates for me with the current war we are waging against corona virus - and all our front doors are shut tight to keep us safe whilst the scientists and frontline workers do battle on our behalf, just as Christ did back then.
To be shut in a tomb would be a nightmare for someone who suffers from claustrophobia, a dark place with no light, no air, no windows, and no easy way out. There are a number of films in which people get locked in mausoleums, and I have every sympathy for those characters. I woke up one morning this week in the early hours, got up and flung open the window, muttering, "I must have air!" before getting back into bed. We sleep in pitch blackness with blackout blinds, and the windows are usually closed: the OH doesn't sleep well and is sensitive to every noise and possible disturbance. This isn't the way I want to sleep but one has to make sacrifices for those one loves, at least occasionally! But I can imagine that a tomb would be like that - dark and airless - and how desperately one who was alive would want to escape... And we want this experience now to be over, we want to be able to get out and live in the world again, free to see our friends and family, to be able to travel and enjoy life - this lockdown feels like incarceration to some, I am hearing, and I am so sorry for those who feel like that.
Just as we are promised that Sunday is coming, that Resurrection is coming, that the resurrected Christ is coming, we can be sure that the end of this lockdown will come eventually. The question for me is one of wondering how we will be different after it? The Risen Christ is different from Jesus, and the world, for the disciples at least, is different once they know that Christ has risen - how will we find the world when we emerge again? It is going to take longer than tomorrow morning for us, but will we be ready? Can we take hold of all the lessons of community spirit, of caring for one another, of generosity and appreciation, and live differently in a post-pandemic world?
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