Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

We were there, looking on, astounded that this could happen, knowing all along that this could happen.  He was like a bolt from the blue, this Jesus who called us out of our sleep and made us aware and alive again.  He was too good … too good to be true … too true.  It was amazing he lasted so long, three years of truth-telling and life-living and people-affirming in such a public way.  It was amazing that he touched so many before the gauntlet fell.  We were there, hurting for him, aching for him, struggling with him.  We were like church mice, though; we had no power in the scheme of things; we couldn’t stop the killing.  But our mere presence was something at least, and now we have the power of our memory.

Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?

We were there, watching, grieving, stunned.  We saw his lifeless body with its still raw flesh, torn apart by the institutionalized hatred of our time.  We couldn’t bring him back to life … not our copious tears, not our awakened love, not our certain knowledge that a great evil had been done to him.  We were there, powerless again, hangers-on, wanting to be part of his story however strange and spare.  Our friends already said to us to let go and move on.  But we would not.  We were still “in” this thing, this story, this struggle for meaning.  And our only gift was being there, standing for his dignity even in death, as his presence had been so powerful in calling forth our hidden dignity in life.

Were you there when they sealed the tomb with stone?

We were there.  We witnessed that stone rolled against that open wound of earth.  We saw that tomb sealed secure against the light of day.  And our only strength was our sight:  We were there, we saw.…  It was final.

Were you there when He rose up from the grave?

No, we were not there then.  We can only imagine how it really happened.  But we were there afterward, shortly afterward, when something like—but not quite like—a thunderbolt or a lightning strike hit.  We saw a magnificent swiftness, a beauty beyond telling, a pure message given wing and word and form:  And the messenger rolled back the boulder and showed us the empty place.  And then the message:  Go tell your brothers: Jesus has risen from the dead!

When you hear the word of the Lord,
truly hear the message of the
Holy Lord,
it will take away your very breath—
it will give you “overjoy”—
it will move you to almost-tears—
it will make you almost-laugh—
it will delight, surprise, frighten
all at the same time,
awaking the most-real in you
at one and the same time.

When you hear the word of the Lord,
really hear the word
of the
Risen Lord, Jesus, Alive Again—
When you hear this Alive God say,
“Do not be afraid.  Go tell my brothers…”
You go—
You just go—
And fear falls away like the mere thing
It really is.

And you know what?
As you go—
As you just go—

You meet the living Jesus,
along the way—
the same Jesus,
warm to the touch,
human beyond all hope—
alive beyond all reason—
and again the breath stops,
the tears tingle,
the hope ignites,
the world is ablaze,
for Jesus meets you in your Yes,
the Holy finds you on your Way.