The great Easter truth is NOT that we are to live newly after our deaths.. but that we are to live nobly, in the here and now- and that we live by the power of hope eternal, and by maintaining a faith in life and a love for others that resurrects us all…

Glory Be to God for dappled things- For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim; Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls;
flinch’s wings; Landscape plotted and pierced- fold, fallow, and plough;
And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things couter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle,freckled, (who knows how?)
With swift; slow; sweet; sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change: Praise Him!
Gerald Manly Hopkins

Easter is not a time to dwell on dusty, musty tombs of tradition and feeling… it is to be celebrated as a day that fans the flames of hope that rise out of the tombs of any despair- Easter is our day of days that proclaims unconditionally the glory and majesty of life-it proclaims that the Spirit of Life is eternal, and that She lives in us, among us and is forever a gracious Yes! Happy Easter!

Selected Reading: Easter Morning by Wallace Robbins (adapted)
In the Easter story according to St. John’s Gospel, at dawn, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb alone. She was reluctantly included among the people who surrounded Jesus or who were a part of his inner circle of believers. Yet, she was first; and it was to her, and not to the apostles, that Jesus first appeared.
Those who watched the crucifixion had hoped that Jesus would have demonstrated some divine power or holy wrath… But when he did not, some were disappointed… Others were relieved…. Mary Magdalene never asked for anything from Jesus; She just wanted only to give her thanks to a man- a man who lay dead either victorious or defeated- but a man when he was alive blessed her and released her from her enemies and exploiters.
Jesus might have been the only man she ever met who did not want something from her- the only one who saw into her heart, and then demonstrated to her that he believed in her goodness, and that she wasn’t beyond redemption or undeserving of his compassion. His ability to show mercy gave her the strength to believe that God could not be denied or wrestled out of existence by religious piety, moral indifference, or public apathy. Because of what he did while he was alive, she was simply grateful. Her darkness did not frighten him, and his dark death did not discourage her faith.
Until each of us is willing to face the tomb of our own deadly beliefs, the emptiness of limiting attitudes and belittling opinions, be willing to suspend our doubts to arrive with hope, and then acting courageous and compassionate toward others, acting in the unselfish power of love can do or achieve, only then will we ever begin to know how Mary felt on that first Easter morning….

From the writings of Miester Eckhart and the Creation Mystics

The day of my spiritual awakening, was the day when I saw God in all things, and all things in God….

When your personal Easter comes, know that I will be all around you, and that I shall move through and through you… and Then I will steal your body, and give it to your love… (alternative is: I will heal your body…)

When are we like God? I will tell you…
In so far as we are compassionate,and practice it steadfastly
In so far as we are just, and decide to live in accord with it
In so far as we are loving, and offer it freely

Then do we resemble the Creator/Creatrix who practices these things ceaselessly in us and for us…

What is the human soul? It is god with God.
This is why God says to the soul:
I am the God of gods, but you are the goddess of all creatures.
Stand by all the people ….
who bear my likeness for I am your soul….

How does God come to us?
Like dew on the flowers…
Like the song of birds!
Yes, God gives us beauty through all the creatures,
gives us God wholly to me! \
This is why I bless God in my heart without ceasing, and give thanks for every living thing…. And this is why God has given us a mouth- to offer praises, in common with all the creatures, with all that we do, and at all times….

I see humanity as one vast plant, needing for its highest fulfillment only love, the natural blessings of the great outdoors, and intelligent crossing and selection.

In the span of my own lifetime, I have observed such wonderous progress in plant evolution that I look forward optimisitcally to a healthy,happy world as soon as its children are taught the principles of simple and rational living.
We must return to nature, and nature’s god.
Luther Burbank

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