Reading the room

Albert Bogle April 17, 2022 0 4

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John 20: 1-2 (NRSVA)

1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’

There is something strangely beautiful and peaceful about the early hours of the morning in a garden especially just before dawn. But this was no ordinary dawn. Something had happened that was so cosmic, you might say the atmosphere was heavy with eternal mystery. Particles of a kind of spiritual energy lingered in the air. There had been an unearthly commotion. An explosion of clear new light slit open the grave and the stone that covered the entrance moved. Then, the sound of people running terrified. Mesmerised people; soldiers staring; women running; bodies moving.

Then a holy peace begins to descend, voices fade into the rising sun and an unnoticed joy transforms the world. Mary carries her sorrow and grief into this space of holy peace unaware of the sacred presence. She feels no peace, only turmoil and worry stirring up within her. She sees the stone rolled away and the grave lying open. She reads robbers have been here. Angels go unnoticed. She runs to tell Peter what has happened.

Sometimes we read the wrong message. We think the worst rather than considering an alternative reality, when it comes to our disappointments of the heart. Today above all days let’s look for angels rather than robbers.

A prayer for inner peace

Lord

What a sight

What an experience

Sorrow and fear

They live together

Lies and deception surround

Your resurrection

Anxiety and worry

Prevent our rising our resurrection

We fear to believe

Yet we love to doubt

Our restless souls

Long for peace

Lord help us to

Believe in order to Love

And to doubt our fears

In order to believe

Help us read the rooms of our lives better

Give us faith to see beyond the fear

To see the unnoticed joy we have missed

Call us by our names

That we might hear — unheard joy

And feel the peace for which we long.