Easter the Verb

 





Who can say when or how it will be that something easters up out of the dimness to remind us of a time before we were born and after we will die? Frederick Buechner


I am endlessly intrigued by the word “easter” used as a verb. Not only am I reminded of those who believe, as I do, that God is a verb, but eastering seems to bring me closer to the mysterious and ineffable, to notions like resurrection and incarnation. It fosters our witness to miracles on earth.


“something easters up out of the dimness” is a phrase which assists me in my contemplation of these 50 days when intentionally practicing resurrection. It calls me to pause in the dimnesses of life, of which there are too many these days, and instead of assuming the dimness is fatal darkness, to stay. 


I imagine remaining at a dim, empty tomb with all its frightening aspects and being surprised by the ghost of a gardener or the apparition of an angel. Staying in unexpected, uncomfortable moments offers the opportunity of eastering. Something is happening. Something is being made new, even if a mere idea or perspective. 


Moreover, it has become apparent to me that eastering happens not only in dimness but through cracks, through vulnerability. Letting go of that which might prevent emergence of wonder is a necessary if difficult task. Trust in the slow work...


At this time in my life “eastering” is especially important and poignant as I navigate difficult relationships. It offers hope instead of anxiety and despair that in this liminal space of I know not what, there is indeed something whole and holy which might reveal itself.


Bless easter the verb.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Love is Love

Image
  Blessed be God who animates our lives and loves us beyond measure that we too might bring love into the world. AMEN What a joy and honor to be here! I have been privileged to journey with Dana and now, to witness with her cloud of witnesses the sacrament of ordination, is something to behold!  Anyone who knows Dana knows she is passionate about the two great commandments and one of the creative ways she marks this covenant of Love with a capital L is to point consistently to the Robert Indiana Sculpture, that famous square of L O V E! (parenthetically the work of art also marks her love of Philadelphia) But let me use Love as the jumping off point today for it seems to me that no matter what or where or when, the Gospels point us to the Love of God or more accurately toward the God who is Love. And this love is expressed and lived and surrounds us through the mysterious and powerful dynamic of the Trinity. Moreover in our precious sacramental lives, ordination being such a moment but
Read more

Behold and Become the Beloved

Image
  Blessed be God who animates our lives and marks us as Christ’s own forever, God’s beloveds and     Kingdom bearers. AMEN You may have recognized the prelude which Jon played this morning; you may have noticed a tear falling. Hardly a sermon goes by when I don’t think about the words to the Hymn: I love to tell the story of Jesus and His love. We all have such stories, some biblical retellings and some contemporary adaptations. Whatever the story of Jesus and His love, they seem to illuminate the grace even in darkness and despair. One of mine goes as follows:  Almost exactly 23 years ago to the day, on a dark and stormy winter afternoon at St Christopher’s in Gladwyn PA, I received most difficult news. After a year of interviews and psychoanalysis and being told my ordination made so much sense, suddenly the rug was pulled out and with no explanation I was told no ordination, no second chances.  That evening was a baptism of sorts for me…there was water everywhere. Teeming rain outsi
Read more

Advent 4/ The Mystery of the Incarnation of Love

Image
  Throughout this season of Advent certain things have been everpresent and close to the surface. Certainly the pandemics invade our lives every day still and yet Advent offers us the opportunity to dig down below the thin covering of fear and anxiety and grief and recover or reuncover the love and hope we knew and are to know. Advent is a bit of a recovery mission. The candles on the Advent wreath call us intentionally to hope and peace and joy and love. And by now just days before the Incarnation we might locate those gifts and life giving graces in our own bodies and souls in order to be more fully present at the manger, to witness the birth of Love Incarnate.   We look, no gaze deeply, and then cause our eyes to bring what we perceive into view in our own lives. In Advent we pull back the veil which might mute or distort our own incarnations and remember, re-member, love.  To do so requires us to embrace our vulnerability. It can be painful. Yet in this poem by Denise Levertov we m
Read more