Resurrection in Our Midst
By Linda Booth, Council of Twelve Apostles
Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ-he is Lord of all. I believe in resurrection. Jesus died and rose from the dead. I also believe in resurrection in this life as well as in the next. -Acts 10:34-36 NRSV
I believe in resurrection. Jesus died and rose from the dead. I also believe in resurrection in this life as well as in the next.
Sometimes in the midst of difficult situations, I forget that God offers resurrection now! But resurrection always comes in the darkest moments of my life: as I held my sobbing 12-year-old son in my arms when he learned that his best friend had hanged himself; as I stood by my husband, watching the paramedics fight to bring him back to life; and as I cried out in pain during the three months when our two grandsons were taken and we didn’t know where they were-if they were safe or if we would ever see them again.
In those painful times, resurrection came! God was in the darkness, in the suffering, fear, and sadness. God’s divine presence brought new life, new understandings, new hope, and new beginnings. My testimony of God’s grace always grew.
Barbara Brown Taylor reminds us of God’s promise of everyday resurrection in her book, Learning to Walk in the Dark (HarperOne, 2014).
Even when light fades and darkness falls-as it does every single day, in every single life-God does not turn the world over to some other deity. Even when you cannot see where you are going and no one answers when you call, this is not sufficient proof that you are alone. There is a divine presence that transcends all your ideas about it, along with all your language for calling it to your aid…here is the testimony of faith: darkness is not dark to God; the night is as bright as the day (pp. 15-16).
It is my testimony that in dark times not only does God hear our cries but God is near-resurrection is in our midst!
It is my prayer that as God’s Easter people we have the courage to boldly walk through the darkness into the light of God’s emerging kingdom.
Prayer Phrase
Spirit now live in me.
Spiritual Practice
Breathe deeply and enter a few minutes of silence. Be attentive to where you sense new life emerging in you. Search your memories of the previous day. When did you notice the sacredness of life in surprising places or forms in the world around you?
Today’s Prayer for Peace
Engage in a daily practice of praying for peace in our world. Click here to read today’s prayer and be part of this practice of peace.
