Dear LCC Community,

Do you know the Easter story of the two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus?They are joined by the resurrected Jesus but they don’t recognize him. Shuffling along the road in mourning, they tell the stranger their story of loss:“ We had hoped he was the one to redeem Israel, ”they say. But then that evening at dinner, as the story goes, “their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.”(Luke 24:13-35)

 

And so their hope is reborn. It is a story that can remind us we never lose whatwe treasure most: the flow of love and spirit. We may not be able to imagine feeling these again, but they will be reborn.

 

There is no human story more common than the disappearance of the future we have envisioned. A loved one dies...the cancer returns...the addiction roars back. It is what Ernest Hemingway captured when he was supposedly challenged to write a short story in six words, and he wrote: “For Sale: Baby shoes, never used.”

 

Our Easter story of rebirth can remind us that our loss is never the end of the story. Somehow—from out of the depths—life returns and hope arises again.

 

As we prepare to celebrate Earth Day in the context of such violence against our earth, and as we grieve the violence being waged against our brothers and sisters in Gaza and in all the other places, may our Easter story help us.

 

May we fully mourn the loss of what we hold most dear, as did the disciples ont he road to Emmaus. For when our hearts are broken open, then we might have space to receive the light that is not overcome by the darkness... to hold both the loss and thepromise...to invite new hope and inspiration—the flow of eternal spirit into us.

 

May weopen to the promise of resurrection.

Peace and blessings,

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Lee

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