I arise today. Christ beside me, Christ within me, Christ around me. Christ in the hearts of everyone who know me.

Jesus the Christ, the Resurrected Christ enabled this
phenomenon before the dawn of time. The Incarnate
one was part of creation before time began and the
Resurrection of Jesus Christ was for all creation!

My musings on Easter events brought back to me the
intense experience of what could be called “rolling the
stone back”, after eye surgery when I removed the eye
guard and captured the technicolour beauty of our
glorious world. I remember experiencing what I thought
was the brightness and splendour of Resurrection and I
felt like “walking and leaping and praising God.” What a
transformative moment and a treasured one!

The actual Resurrection morning in the garden was
pure freshness and peaceful glow in the early morning
sunny brightness. Most of the friends of Jesus were in
deep sorrow at the tragic loss of their leader, Jesus of
Nazareth. This seems to be a flashback to the garden
of Gethsemane where sleep overcame them. On this
occasion, they had chosen not to keep watch at the
tomb as they too were overcome by fear, disappointment
and confusion. Metaphorically, as David Whyte enters
the garden of the Resurrection, he expresses similar
reactions. “A garden inside me, unknown, secret,
neglected for years, the layers of its soil deep and thick.”

The Paschal journey highlights the importance of
women in the recognition of Christ. Mary Magdalene,
often described as the Apostle of the Resurrection, had
grasped the depth of her master through his teaching,
healing and deep friendship. The other women who
received the news at the tomb were alarmed and fearful
and so remained silent, perhaps believing but requiring
further conviction because of the alien climate in
Jerusalem at the time.

We are called to promote Christ of the Resurrection
in our everyday lives, not so much by preaching but
through our deep faith and Christian living.

Sarah Bachelard remarks, How impossible is the commission
to bear this news into a world that has little capacity
to hear it, that is not looking for it and may not even
desire it. David Whyte offers a cautionary reminder, to
remember the other world in this world, is to live in
your time inheritance.

Resurrection is about hope and transformation. We
believe because we have faith, and we also have tangible
evidence of creation and transformation around us. The
very fact that an icon of the Resurrection can be found
on the Resurrection gate in Moscow’s Red Square
reminds us that the conquest over life and death is still
possible in the most unlikely places.

We see David’s transformation in the completion of his
poetry quoted earlier:
Sunrise through the misted orchard,
morning sun turns silver on the pointed twigs.
I have woken from the sleep of ages and I am not sure
if I am really seeing, or dreaming,
or simply astonished
walking towards sunrise
to have stumbled into the garden
where the stone was rolled from the tomb of longing.
(David Whyte – Easter Morn in Wales)

This Resurrection Day, let us “roll our unwanted stones”,
sharpen our vision, search for new visions and insights
and spread the light of Christ as Easter people. I arise
today…

Sr Michele Shipperley rsj