Good morning…
The full moon this Maundy Thursday shines light on the story of Easter. From Smyrna, Georgia down south to the shores of Kiawah Island, South Carolina and up north to the waters of Blue Ridge to the Vinings area of Atlanta, God’s light pierces our darkness.
Women in our classes love sharing photos of the moon in all it’s glory. Having studied together Learning to Walk in the Dark by Barbara Brown Taylor, Wintering by Katherine May and now Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer, we have been schooled by the Spirit on the inseparable nature of light and darkness.
This morning in our home, we will read from page 14 of Let Your Life Speak.
“The experience of darkness has been essential to my coming into selfhood,” writes Palmer, “and telling the truth about that fact helps me stay in the light. But I want to tell that truth for another reason as well: many young people today journey in the dark, as the young always have, and we elders do them a disservice when we withhold the shadowy parts of our lives. When I was young, there were few elders willing to talk about the darkness; most of them pretended that success was all they had ever known. As the darkness began to descend on me in my early twenties, I thought I had developed a unique and terminal case of failure. I did not realize that I had merely embarked on a journey toward joining the human race.”
Jesus was wrapped in soft, infant skin and sent by his Father to join the human race. He took onto himself the shadowy parts of our lives. This holy night of Maundy Thursday commemorates the last meal Jesus shared with his disciples on earth. The Last Supper marks the institution of the Eucharist (“This is my body, given for you.” “This is my blood shed for you.”) and the washing of the disciples’ feet, symbolizing humility, service, and the “new commandment” to love one another.
With the pain of betrayal, crucifixion, and death, Jesus journeyed through the pitch black dark before living into the redeeming light of Easter morning. As the darkness began to descend on him, I wonder, “At what point might Christ have fully understood that he was joining the whole human race to the eternal light of our living God?
The glow of the full moon reminds us again: as vulnerable humans, we constantly experience both darkness and light. We always carry around in our bodies the reality of the brutal death and suffering of Jesus. As a result, His resurrection life rises and reveals its wondrous power in our bodies as well (2 Corinthians 4:10, VOICE).
This Easter weekend, may Christ’s resurrection power rise up anew and reveal its guiding light in you. Amen.
…Sue…
