Good morning…
As the plastic, pastel eggs are tucked away for next year and the last chocolate Easter bunnies are now at ninety percent off, I am brought back to the spring wisdom of When The Heart Waits. “There is a line from a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins that speaks to me: ‘Let him easter in us, be a dayspring to the dimness of us, be a crimson-cresseted east,'” writes Sue Monk Kidd on page 156. A divine lightbulb illuminates her conscious knowing. “Until I read that line it had never occurred to me to think of Easter as a verb. But it is, isn’t it? Easter isn’t only a long-ago event that happened but an action that goes on happening inside us today. To “let him easter in us” is to let the Christ-life incubate within the darkness of our waiting.”
We all are waiting for something, big or small. Clarity. Graduation. Wedding. Job offer. Test results. True Love. Signed divorce papers. Depression to lift. Anxiety to lower. Dr. Seuss poetically adds to our long list of waiting moments in his book Oh, The Places You Will Go.
Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come,
or a plane to go or the mail to come,
or the rain to go or the phone to ring,
or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.
What would it mean for the life of Christ to “easter” in us as we wait in today’s unformed, unknown, unrelenting darkness? “I learned that we turn the darkness of the tomb into the darkness of the womb by cupping our hands around the pulse of True Life and helping it to grow,” concludes Monk Kidd.
It just occurs to me now that the “easter-ing” of God in our everyday lives was actually the joy set before Jesus as he cupped his hands around the pulse of True Life. His tomb became our womb. As we wait in today’s darkness of not-yet-clear, we are invited into an intimate gaze, [looking away from all that will distract us and] focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith [the first incentive for our belief and the One who brings our faith to maturity], who for the joy [of accomplishing the goal] set before Him endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God [revealing His deity, His authority, and the completion of His work] (Romans 12:2, AMP).
The completion of Jesus’ work is now being birthed into our ordinary lives, as the power of the Holy Spirit rises up from within. Christ-in-us becomes the source of joy for many, many who are now “easter-ing” God’s tomb-to-womb shift.
…Sue…
P.S. Thanks to Gina MacFarland for this joy-filled picture taken of Gwen Hughes on our back yard trampoline!
