I lived an Easter story this past week.
The details matter not. It is enough to write that the holy moment included a painful death in addition to a miraculous resurrection--divine formulas for both being forgiven as well as sharing forgiveness.
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Lord knows (literally, the Lord knows) that Sue Jane Sullivan has needed and often accepted forgiveness. (Thank goodness the details still matter not, to you dear reader). I have had my socks knocked off a time or two by the sheer magnitude of what it is to be forgiven. Grace and mercy are shock paddles that revive us when we have staggered along precipices.
When we are inclined or perhaps even feel we have the right to push someone off that same precipice for hurting us, a funny thing usually happens on the way to the cliff. We realize we too were once holding on for dear life. Rather than push, we pull--extending a hand to bring someone back from the ledge.
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The original Easter story is perpetual. Death followed by resurrection. Sin followed by forgiveness. A broken heart followed by healing. Day in and day out, our own crosses call us to accept forgiveness and to offer forgiveness. If we don't, we might as well just officially make Easter all about chocolate bunnies and Peeps.
A twenty-two year hurt in my life was mended last week as Passover concluded and Good Friday came. All things were made new--the old things were passed away. This Easter Sunday 2016, there is a good chance that the message will resonate in a way it never has.
