A Lilly Pod Releasing a Seed
I woke up this past Easter morning not so sure about Jesus rising from the dead. I felt unsettled by my skepticism on a day of such miracle and hope. This was somewhat new for me – I’m generally open to miracles since creation seems improbable to begin with. I felt like an Easter Grinch. However, wisdom has been teaching me to simply be mindful rather than judgmental of all that arises, so I decided to try and accept the combination of my faith and doubt as a neutral given.
Besides I reasoned, no matter how ardent the believer or atheist, all sorts of thoughts must arise from and beyond the cerebral pockets of our brains for everyone. These are bound to reflect the complexity and the unknowns of our existence. I was pleased with the result of the tact of acceptance. It turned out that my skepticism led to a refreshing curiosity, a hunger for details. I went to church and heard things I had never noticed. I do not remember hearing Matthew’s scriptural account of Easter including a host of saints that rise with the tearing of the veil. That piqued my imagination where I enjoyed picturing myself sitting in a dark synagogue startled by the sound of the sacred altar cloth mysteriously and symbolically ripping. I would be pretty jumpy at that. I would actually faint if I then saw a big group of dead saints rising en masse. No matter your level of belief, the Easter story is a great story -powerful on so many levels: literal, metaphorical, mystical, and magical… Indeed, “Easter is incomprehensibly and wonderfully mysterious” to quote my pastor in his Easter morning sermon.
This curiosity also heightened my interest in others’ experience of Easter - some church-goers and some not. Janie, my daughter-in-law spoke of all the ways people try to briefly describe Easter on Facebook. She reported that her favorite was “Love conquers death.” I think that statement captures the heart of Jesus’ life and the hope the Easter story offers. I loved her wisdom to see this.
My long-time colleague, C. has begun going to church and he shared how much he loved the pastor’s excitement and the power in the Easter music. To him, the focus was appealingly on life. Another colleague, a young mother told me that she and her family went to church Easter Sunday for the first time in a long time. She said both she and her husband loved the message that Easter can remind us that our lives are full of things we thought were dead and yet live again. She laughed saying that her and her husband’s presence at church that morning was an immediate example of that truth. Before that Sunday, they had long held that church was dead for them.
Noticing and accepting a little doubt with our established truths can fuel our wonderings and pry us open. Perhaps our hearts are like the lily pod in the picture above - she nurtures her seeds in a dark center. Our mindful noticing and curiosity marks the season for the heart to open her maternal jaws and release the seeds of possibility. Beauty germinates in complex mystery. May you take note of the mix within your heart and let it open you to the wonders of this season and its hope, life, beauty, and love.
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