New Life is Right Here
Maybe today
A poem by Rev. Sarah Speed
we can take a moment.
Maybe today
we can silence the inner critic.
Maybe today
we can leave perfection at the door.
Maybe today we can allow ourselves to be
here.
Maybe that’s all that matter.
Maybe this sunrise is for you.
Maybe these Hallelujahs are for us.
Maybe the hope blooming in my chest
is for us.
Maybe the resurrection was not just about God’s body,
but is about our body.
Maybe this new life reaches all the way to the edges.
Maybe we are free to live in a new way
where love is the currency and we are enough.
Maybe that’s what this is all about—
not a relentless pursuit of more
but God’s relentless pursuit of me.
New life
is right here.
Like the women—say it out loud.
Luke Peter—run that way.
The Spirit thrives through creativity and imagination. Through poetry, music, paintings, dance and more, the spirit is free to move and speak to us as we need to hear her. Even the liturgical seasons of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, Season After Pentecost, could be described as creative and imaginative. After all we invented the seasons. In Advent we imagine a world without the birth of Christ. What does it mean that peace, joy, love, and hope are born? In Lent we imagine ourselves walking with Jesus to Jerusalem and kneeling at the foot of the cross. Each year the seasons give the spirit space to say something new to us.
However, the reality of Easter is that we are always on this side of the resurrection. You and I are a part of the post-resurrection story. We witness the resurrection again and again, just like those first disciples. This is why you may hear me mention during the passing of the peace, “recognize the risen Christ in one another.” Christ is the one we meet on the road. Christ is the one naked and hungry. Christ is all around, and clearly Christ lives! Hallelujah.
So, I invite you to read Rev. Speed’s poem once more. Savor the words and phrases. How will you in this season of Easter be open to your part in the story of resurrection? How is the resurrection not just about God’s body, but about our body?
Blessings for your journey,
Rev. Keith McDevitt