Standing in Easter's Threshold

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As earth requires rest
and the seas need time to be replenished,
so in resting may we be made more alive,
so in stillness may our creativity be born anew.

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We live, it seems, in troubled times. The words, “COVID-19,” are on most everyone’s lips. Other words we use to describe this moment in time are surreal, unprecedented, strange, unsettling, unravelling, unrelenting, fearful. Still other words reflect a deeper exploration of the possibilities to be found in this moment for our lives and for our world—words like Kairos, liminal, threshold—all of which point to a moment in time out of time, a moment of possibility, opportunity, and potential for transformation. This is a moment in history which most of us would much rather read about in history or science fiction books than actually live through! Nonetheless, here we are—we are the ones whose stories will be told. This ‘moment’ is one that will be held up--like the virus itself, as ‘novel.’ And, we are the ones who will be known as those who explored and embraced fresh possibilities for working towards for a different kind of future for ourselves and for our world—or failed to do so.  We can choose to change our trajectory, to move in a direction that will lead toward a deeper care for one another, for the most vulnerable, and for this beautiful world of which we are a part. Our Easter faith proclaims to us that resurrection is possible. Let’s seek together to live into resurrection’s possibilities.

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In the life of the world 
in every nation and among every people,
let there be fresh stirrings of your Spirit.
In our own soul and the soul of the world 
let there be fresh stirrings 
of your mighty creating Spirit. 

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Prayers by John Philip Newell,
Sounds of the Eternal