The Banjo – A Symbol of Endurance in the Midst of Great Suffering

Column by Toni Reynolds on 14 April 2022 1 Comments
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Question

The Resurrection - Instead of reading the resurrection story of Jesus literally, can we understand it as a spiritual truth about how each one of us can transform our lives towards being more loving and kind?

Answer

Dear Roy,

To answer you simply:  yes!

But the sacred myth of the resurrection is not just about transformation.  It is a sacred myth that transforms.

After his crucifixion, the gospel tells us that Jesus was in the tomb for three days, corresponding to the three trimesters of human gestation.  And then he resurrected.  Jesus’ body went into it, and the eternal and ever-present Christ, who is God, who is Love, came out. The pain and terror and horror of crucifixion went in, and hope and promise came out.  Anger and fear went in, and forgiveness and peace came out.

Jesus’ body went into the tomb, and the Christian church came out, three days later.

As St. Paul wrote much later, “It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body . . .” (1 Corinthians 15:44)  Jesus’ body was a seed sown in the earth, and from him sprouted a beloved community that lives and bears fruit to this day.

The myth of the resurrection is itself a seed.  We receive it into the soil of our souls, and there in the darkness of our unconscious it grows within.  The myth changes the narrative of our lives from being victims of abuse to being agents of reconciliation and renewal.  This potent story becomes the scaffold upon which we take the rough, raw material of our lives to construct a new and beautiful edifice.

At Easter, Christians celebrate this spiritual transformation by coming together in the “spiritual body” that is the church.  We are the compassionate community that rolled away the stone and emerged from the tomb.  The Christ lives through us!  That’s what we mean when we repeat the ancient Greek chant:  “Christos anesti! Alithos anesti!”—“Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!”

~ Rev. James Burklo

 

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