We’re back in Abilene. We basically drove to Houston for dinner. We just desperately needed a Matt and Jenna fix. Too long without seeing son #1 and our daughter-in-law. So ten hours of driving for 19 hours in the city of Houston (including sleep). Not a bad deal.
A couple thoughts as we anticipate the joy of Easter morning:
“I don’t have the right personality for Good Friday, for the crucifixion: I’d like to skip ahead to the resurrection.” Anne Lamott, Plan B
“I find that Holy Week is draining; no matter how many times I have lived through his crucifixion, my anxiety about his resurrection is undiminished — I am terrified that, this year, it won’t happen; that, that year, it didn’t. Anyone can be sentimental about the Nativity; any fool can feel like a Christian at Christmas. But Easter is the main event; if you don’t believe in the resurrection, you’re not a believer.” John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany
And you couldn’t make time to come see ME??!!
And from two of my favorite books, too! Thanks for reminding me of those. Hope you and the family have a wonderful Easter.
I love this Peter Marshall quote:
“The stone was rolled away from the door, not to permit Christ to come out, but to enable the disciples to go in.”
A little piece of the song “Houston” by Larry Gatlin for you.
Houston, Houston means that I’m one day closer to you
Aw honey Houston, Houston means the last day of the tour and we’re through
Well honey, you and God in heaven above know I love what I do for a living, I do
Ah, but Houston, Houston means that I’m one day closer to you
Peace and God be praise on this Resurrection weekend.
I needed my COPE fix. thanks for the comments this Easter eve.
Let every man and woman count himself immortal. Let him catch the revelation of Jesus in his resurrection. Let him say not merely, “Christ is risen,” but “I shall rise.” -Phillips Brooks
Mike-
Think of the disciples who were a beaten, bedraggled group of misfits on Saturday. Mourning a Master thay believed would bring back the Kingdom, mourning the loss of a friend, wondering what in the world they had been doing the last three years, wondering if they could get their old jobs back. Some 40+ days later they stood the world on its ear and preached the gospel with super-human strength. What happened between the Passover and the Day of Pentecost was the greatest event in history. That dark Friday Jesus took the sins of the world on himself and buried them in the nether world. On Sunday he triumphed even over the power of our sins and the grave to rise from death and give us life!
We, who are weak and sinful, were worth delivering in his eyes.
What a wretched man I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Thanks be to God!! It is through Jesus Christ, our Lord!!
We do indeed have something worth celebrating this Sunday morning!!
It is just like a father to want to be with his son as Easter approaches. The thought of being forsaken is in the back our minds, or forsaking. “I am here for you,” we tell our sons. “I will not leave you.” We know that the time will come when we will not be there for our sons. Someday, it will beyond our control.
I theologically understand why the Father left, but I do not understand as a father. I would not have the strength to turn my back on my Son, for the sake of the world.
Was it harder on the Father to leave his Son, or for the Son to be forsaken by his Father?
God be with you as you come to the day of resurrection - again.
Mom - What are you doing up at 12:09 AM?
May the hope and joy of Easter fill you all!
I found the words of Benedict XVI helpful this Good Friday. Though the world is dark a getting darker, there light and hope beyond the hill.
FROM MEDITATIONS AND PRAYERS LED BY THE POPE BENEDICT XVI ON GOOD FRIDAY 2006
We have lost our sense of sin!
Today a slick campaign of propaganda
Is spreading an inane apologia of evil,
A senseless cult of Satan,
A mindless desire for transgression,
A dishonest and frivolous freedom,
Exalting impulsiveness, immorality and selfishness
As if they were new heights of sophistication
Lord Jesus,
Open our eyes:
Let us see the filth around us
And recognize it for what it is,
So that a single tear of sorrow
Can restore us to purity of heart
And the breadth of true freedom.
Open our eyes, Lord, Jesus!
Surely God is deeply pained
By the attack on the family.
Today we seem to be witnessing
A kind of anti-Genesis,
A counter-plan, a diabolical pride
Aimed at eliminating the family.
There is a move to reinvent mankind,
To modify the very grammar of life
As planned and willed by God.
But, to take God’s place, without being God,
Is insane arrogance,
A risky and dangerous venture.
May Christ’s fall open our eyes
To see once more the beautiful face,
The true face, the holy face of the family.
The face of the family
which all of us need.
Lord Jesus,
Purity has everywhere fallen victim
To a calculated conspiracy of silence: an impure silence!
People have even come to believe
A complete lie:
That purity is somehow the enemy of love.
But the opposite is true, O Lord!
Purity is necessary
As a condition for love:
A love that is true, a love that is faithful.
In any event, Lord,
If we cannot be the master of ourselves?
How can we give ourselves to others?
Everything seems over,
The wicked seem to triumph,
And evil appears more powerful than good.
But faith enables us to see afar,
it makes us glimpse the break of a new day
On the other side of this day.
Faith promises us that the final word
belongs to God: to God alone!
Your thoughts reminded me of Abraham in Genesis 22: 2:
“Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Mori’ah, and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” I think God wanted to someone to understand what he would have to do someday. He took Abraham to a special spot for this event. I suspect it was Golgotha?
The daily devotional I receive from Max Lucado’s site speaks so powerfully today, especially the last three lines.
A blessed and joyous Resurrection day to all of you and Mike, especially for you and yours for giving us this forum where we may meet in comfortable safety to express those things on our hearts!!
Daily Devotional by Max Lucado
“the One who came still comes and the One who spoke still speaks”
April 16th
He isn’t here! He has been raised from the dead.
Matthew 28:6 (NLT)
The crucifixion was marked by sudden darkness, silent angels, and mocking soldiers.
At the empty tomb the soldiers are silent, an angel speaks, and light erupts like
Vesuvius. The one who was dead is said to be alive, and the soldiers, who are alive, look as if they are dead.
The women can tell something is up….The angel informs them: “He isn’t here! He has been raised from the dead.”…
Heaven unplugged the grave’s power cord, and you and I have nothing to fear.
Death is disabled.
Everyday Blessings
Max Lucado
©2000 - 2006
Courtesy
Oak Hills Church
San Antonio, Texas
I love Anne Lamott and I absolutely loved “A Prayer for Owen Meany”, Mike. Thanks for the quotes. As I watched the sunrise this morning I was reminded once again of Abba’s unfailing love for me which was fully accomplished when His Son rose from the dead! HE IS RISEN INDEED!! Today I am filled once again with wonder and joy as I realize the victory His rising solidifies!
Brad, a friend and I were talking about this very thing..
Owen Meany has many good things to say about religion. I have re-read it nearly every year for more than a decade. It is my favorite book and used to be a must read if you wanted to be my friend. I made my wife read it before we were married! I also happen to be reading Anne Lamotts’ “Traveling Mercies” right now.
Great minds and all that…:)
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