Let Him Easter In Us

THE LORD HAS RISEN INDEED!

~Luke 24: 34 NRSV

Let him easter in us,

be a dayspring to the dimness of us,

be a crimson-cresseted east.

~Gerald Manley Hopkins

And every year

the dull and dead in us

meet the Easter challenge:

to be open to the unexpected,

to believe beyond our security,

to welcome God in every form,

and trust in our own greening

~Joyce Rupp

One of the ancient Easter traditions is the flowering of the cross on Easter morning. Some legends say that the wood of Christ's cross was from the tree of life in the Garden of Eden. Another legend notes that at Christ's death the cross bursts into blooming flowers. We don't know if these legends are true; however, the point is that death is not defeated, new life and hope spring forth.

Hopkin, a Jesuit priest and poet, wrote a poem in memory of a passenger steamship wreck off the coast of England. For 30 hours waves crushed the ship before anyone went to help the drowning passengers. The rescue team was more interested in stealing anything of value than they were in rescuing the people. Hopkins dedicated his lengthy poem to the 5 nuns who left Germany due to persecution and died on board the ship. The most hope-filled phrase in the poem is, "Let him easter in us, be a dayspring to the dimness of us, be a crimson-cresseted east."

Easter is about tranformation. In the Hopkin's poem, Easter became a verb, no longer allowing Easter to be a one time event that happened long ago; rather Easter is continously making us new. It transforms our past wounds, and present lives, and continues to give us new life and hope for the future. As we acknowledge the dim places in us and in the world, light finds its way in. Easter lives in us and permeates our souls and shines its light in our darkness. When Christ easters in us, we live as those chosen, blessed, broken and given. We experience a deep inner joy and delight and we share in offering God's joy and delight in the world.

Prayer:

As your passion, death, and resurrection continue in history, give me the hope, the courage, and the confidence to let your heart unite my heart with the hearts of all your suffering people, and so become for us the divine source of new life.

Amen.

Blessing

So may we know

the hope

that is not just

for someday

but for this day--

here, now,

in this moment

that opens to us:

hope not made

of wishes

but substance,

hope made of sinew

and muscle

and bone,

hope that has breath

and a beating heart,

hope that will not

keep quiet

and be polite,

hope that knows

how to holler

when it is called for,

hope that knows

how to sing

when there seems

little cause,

hope that raises us

from the dead--

not someday

but this day,

every day,

again and

again and

again.

~Jan Richardson

Song: An Easter Hallelujah

Resources:

Richardson, J. (2017) Walking the Way of Hope: A Retreat for Women's Christmas.

Rupp, J. (2000) Out of the Ordinary. Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press