Good morning…
On our walk and talk last week, my friend earnestly asked, “Do you really believe it’s true? Do you really believe Jesus lived, died and rose from the dead? How can we know that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is absolutely true?”
Take a moment now.
How might you, yourself, honestly answer my friend’s candid question?
As we stood at a stoplight waiting to cross the street, I sensed my own answer rise up from my gut. “Having walked for days in the footsteps of Jesus in Israel last spring, the most powerful thing to me was bending down and peering into the garden tomb on the final day. Empty. The tomb was empty. Historically we all agree that Jesus lived and died. Experientially, in a brand new way, I feel the power of Christ living on in us.”
Feeding the deep “Ah yes” sprouting from within, I am now drawn back to a reflection shared at our Mary Magdalene retreat.
“Nothing is more practical than finding God,” writes Pedro Arrupe. “That is, falling in love in a quite absolute way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you will spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love; stay in love, and it will decide everything.”
Experiencing for myself the truth of the empty tomb, I am falling in love with the living Christ in a quite absolute way.
For we, remember, are ourselves living temples of the living God, as God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (2 Corinthians 6:16b, PHILLIPS).
…Sue…
P.S. My husband, Rev. Steve Allen, will lead our next trip to Israel with a small group of less than thirty people on March 2 – March 12, 2023. If you are interested in receiving a flyer with trip information, please send me a note at the link below or email Steve directly at sallen@lovett.org. We would love to experience with you the bonding power of this transformative trip.
