WE ARE PASSING THROUGH A PERIOD OF CRUCIFIXION

We are in Holy Week. This year’s Holy Week has become ‘holed up’ week for most of us, at least the lucky ones.

The world today is passing through a period of crucifixion. The coronavirus pandemic is wreaking havoc almost everywhere. However, the message of Easter is that resurrection always follows crucifixion when there is faith, which for me means living with courage and confidence, despite any appearances in the world to the contrary.

First, let me tell you what I don’t believe about Easter. I don’t believe that Jesus literally and bodily rose from dead. I like what the now deceased Anglican bishop Dr David Jenkins said about that idea. He called the notion of Jesus' physical, bodily resurrection ‘a conjuring trick with bones.’ How wickedly funny, albeit irreverent.

I do, however, know this—Jesus rose spiritually from the tomb. Punishment and death could not destroy the power of his personality and his spirit and his message. Jesus lives today, not in the lives of those who purport to follow him (but show little or no resemblance in their daily lives to Jesus at all), but in the lives of those persons, many of whom would not want to label themselves as Christians, who give constantly of themselves to others in practical service and self-sacrifice so that the troubles of suffering humanity might be relieved. At this dreadful time, I think especially of all the doctors, nurses and other health care professionals and workers in our hospitals and clinics. I think of those working in supermarkets and pharmacies. I think of many others as well. What incredible service and self-sacrifice we are seeing! Sadly, we also see stupidity, selfishness and greed at work among far too many members of the public.

I now want to say a few words about what I refer to as the ‘macro' and the 'micro’ of the Easter story.

In a previous post I have written about the ‘macro’ of Easter, namely, that the Crucifixion is an 'object lesson' and acted parable or dramatization of the ongoing cosmic sacrifice—the self-limitation (crucifixion) of life itself—in which the spirit of life, the one absolute reality which antecedes all manifested things, ever descends into matter, ever offers itself, and ever gives of itself to itself in manifestation, so that life, in all of its multiplicity of forms, may be perpetuated. It is a mystery. It is a wonder. It is divine. What a tragic and terrible thing it is that conventional, mainstream Christianity has so totally literalized and carnalized this truly sublime myth, distorting—even destroying—its true meaning.

Now, the ‘micro’ of Easter. Easter, as we all know, is about dying and rising again. The end of every day is a ‘death’ of sorts. It is gone forever. Now, that is a very good thing, for if it were not to happen there could be no tomorrow. Every new day is a rising of sorts. But it’s even deeper than that. Every new moment is a new beginning—a resurrection of life. We must constantly ‘die’ and ‘rise again’ into newness of life. Most importantly, we must die to self each moment of the day if we wish to be free from the bondage of self. I have often said that we are in bondage to self. All our problems result from that. Freedom lies in constantly dying to self and being resurrected into newness of life. No, not even Jesus can do that for you, despite what some misguided people may have told you. You, and you alone, must do ‘it’ for yourself. You, the person among persons that you are, can and must break the bondage of self—the prison-house of self you have made for yourself—if you want to really become the real person you were destined to be.

Don’t seal in a tomb your faith, hope and love, not to mention your potential future. All too often we shut those important things in with a stone of indifference, despair and fear. We all need to roll away the stone and be resurrected into newness of life. Easter means coming to know and experience personally that there dwells within each one of us an almighty power that can resurrect and remake our broken lives.

Easter is today, tomorrow, and every day. Easter is now.

Keep well. Stay safe. Do the right thing. Follow the experts’ advice. Think of others, not just yourself.

Note. This post reproduces material contained in my previous post, ‘Beyond Traditional Religion: The Real Miracle of Easter’, which appeared on April 18, 2014. Some new material has been added.

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