French Daisy And so they left, and on their way they saw the same star they had seen in the East. When they saw it, how happy they were, what joy was theirs! It went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. (Matthew 2: 9-10, The Holy Bible, Good News Translation)

After the Sabbath, as Sunday morning was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. Suddenly there was a violent earthquake; an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled the stone away, and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid that they trembled and became like dead men. The angel spoke to the women. “You must not be afraid,” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has been raised, just as he said. Come here and see the place where he was lying. Go quickly now, and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from death, and now he is going to Galilee ahead of you; there you will see him!’ Remember what I have told you."

So they left the tomb in a hurry, afraid and yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Peace be with you.” They came up to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. “Do not be afraid,” Jesus said to them. “Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” (Matthew 28: 1-10, The Holy Bible, Good News Translation)

“You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.” Mark Twain.

OK. We are the writers here. We are the moms, dads, grandparents, accountants, artists, musicians, cast, crew, the technology experts, the scientists, the contractors, the preachers, teachers, the nurses, engineers, clerks, “Rich man, Poor Man, Beggar Man, Thief, Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief.” How do we tell this greatest of all stories? An unusual birth. But death that is NOT death, but LIFE? Come on…

How do we make sense out of these stories? In reality, what do they “say” to me? It is a daily struggle to remind myself that Jesus is my “star,” my source of energy; not me, myself, and I. Having traveled to where I thought Jesus would/could/should be, I made the discovery that my destination was just as empty as the tomb appeared to the two Marys. It wasn’t until I was older that I discovered that it was okay to change my spiritual archeology plans several times in order to find Him.

I cannot claim that focus-in-Christ as natural. I have to work at it. But I have found that Christ-energy is truly beyond imagination and that without it I would have burned out long ago. And yes, I believe most definitely in angels. I can testify to several experiences of them. You might be surprised (but then you might not) at the stories that come my way…

In doing this type of “story-detective work” I have discovered that there is a place in our spirit, soul, and our heart that creates our faith stories for us. We each possess a unique story, all our own. In the weaving of these stories, we can read scripture or discover meaning from our very own experience. Then as we receive gifts of grace from God/Holy Spirit it all makes beautiful sense and becomes not only our vision but “new life” for us every time that we rework the telling of our tale.

Somehow we are able to discern how, when, and where that life and faith somehow “connected.” We know where faith becomes real, not rhetorical. Maybe we haven’t worked out all the bugs yet, but when we dig deep enough it is there.

I think that to “find Jesus” and discover faith, is simply where we have to travel on in spiritual imagination. When we hear an angel tell us that Jesus has gone on ahead, our job is simply to allow God’s sunshine to come into our hearts. The warmth that fills us up and spills over will do the rest.

Welcome to the sixth year of ecumininet™ online!
Wishing you all the blessings and the gifts of the Easter season,

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