Dust, dirt, muck, clay.
These are the places of creation.
These are the places of life and death.
These are the places where we we come from, find ourselves, and are called to be co-creators and caretakers.
It is easy to weighed down by the death that surrounds us. Whether expected or not, peaceful or violent, quick or slow, death comes to us all and happens every day. We can spend our lives visiting tombs, carrying burial spices and eulogies, prayers and tears. For some reason, what we remember most readily is death. But death is not the whole story. Death is not the end of the story. We forget so easily…
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body.While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. – Luke 24:1-9
Easter reminds us. Easter is our big, “Oooooh yeah… now I remember…” We may begin our day with burial spices, but we quickly exchange them for a renewed memory and the proclamation of good news. Oooooh yeah… Jesus said that. Jesus did that. This is who we follow. This is our God. This LIFE is what we believe in, not death. Life is happening every day too, not just death. We can be part of that life. We can share the life!
What happens when our perspectives, our lives, are shaped and formed by this good news? We are pulled out of the muck and worked into clay. We are molded by the Potter to become resurrection vessels, bearers of the Good News, to share life in a world full of death. As resurrection vessels, will we hold onto the ashes of Friday or gather the lilies of Sunday? Step away from the tomb and spread the Word. Life is here. Life has claimed us.
This is the third part of a series. If you’d like to read in order, check out part one: Dusty Ones and part two: Into the Muck.