Journal of Sacred Work

    The days leading up to Easter carry an evocative array of names – Palm, Fat, Ash, Maundy, Good and, of course Easter itself, decorated not only with lilies but with every kind of flower. 

   This very morning, I found an Easter cathedral in an iris, complete with purple carpeted ramp leading up to the arched entryway.

   What of these days after Easter?

   For Christians, the resurrection marked the turning point, the day when humanity pivoted away from "an eye-for-an-eye" and began to consider (if not actually live) the energy of Radical Love – a Love that challenges us everyday to embrace our enemies.  

   Before the first Easter sin (a word I distrust) was in search of some kind of salvation. After Easter, a door to salvation was thrown open for all who might choose to enter.

   Jesus' principle gift was never physical healing. Jesus brought to billions the hope that lives through his resurrection. 

   The first Easter gave Love a new power in the world. The days, years, centuries and millenniums after that Easter may leave us wondering why everyone doesn't embrace such a comforting message. Instead, too many leaders insist on fighting "eye-for-an-eye" wars. 

   But, the peoples of the earth have found many pathways to Love. Easter offers hope to Christians. Many gods offer hope to Hindus. Buddhists find peace in the contemplation of Beauty.

   Not everyone finds hope through religions organized by others.

   Love waits with eternal patience to be found by whatever pathway we may choose. God lives in the eyes of suffering, in the hands of old age, and within the cathedral built around the tiny heart of a single iris.

   On Good Friday, the heart breaks. On Easter, and in the days that follow, healing for all lies in the resurrection of one.   

 -Reverend Erie Chapman