It is finished; it is begun




   
It is finished and it is only just begun!
These last words of Jesus on the cross often get mistaken for ultimate finality, much like many of us mistake death as an endpoint. 
I am reminded as I think of these words of how many of us have many moments in our lives when we think we are "done"; or that we have "arrived". Even more likely we think that we ought to have done so and berate ourselves for not yet!
Jesus spoke these words on the cross, in the midst of a cosmic plan. His earthly being was "finished" but resurrection and ascension were to come, not to mention the continuous inbreaking of His Presence as the Risen One among us. 
In this period after Easter when we still wake up to the pandemic and isolation, when we are again instructed to Love One Another as though for the first time, I wonder whether "it is finished" might help us die to our false selves and adopt "it is begun" as our Easter mantra? We are finished with life in a dark tunnel or tomb; we step out as Easter people into and with the Light of Christ. 

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