Resurrection
“Live
your life so that the fear of death can never enter your heart. When
you arise in the morning, give thanks for the morning light. Give
thanks for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food and the
joy of living. And if perchance you see no reason for giving thanks,
then rest assured the fault is in yourself.”
Chief
Tecumseh
We
celebrate the resurrection today. At this moment, people are
gathering in parks and church yards for sunrise services. Choirs
will sing the Alleluia chorus, and give thanks and praise for the
risen Christ. There will be much pomp and processing with banners and
flags. We'll wear our beautiful spring clothes and new shoes and
everyone will be joyful for the guarantee of salvation. In the
afternoon, families will gather for hearty meals and Easter egg
hunts. This is a day for play and family fun, a day for inspiration
and exuberance.
Tomorrow,
we will get up, pull up our pants and head out to work. We will
resume life on the far side of Easter, facing the issues of our day,
and the difficulties of the world. Wars are still raging, terrorists
are still bombing, our infrastructure is crumbling around us, and we
have a nastier than usual political cycle going on with no end in
sight. The question becomes, how do we live the resurrection in view
of all that? How do we keep the risen Christ, light of the world, in
our hearts for all the days after Easter?
Chief
Tecumseh was head of the Shawnee Nation. He grew up during the
Revolutionary War and the Northwest Indian War, and so, both as a
child and as an adult, was exposed to constant warfare. He opposed
the takeover of Indian territory by the American forces and enlisted
the British to help his tribe fight. His nation, known as the
Tecumseh Confederacy, moved from the Ohio territory to present day
Indiana in hopes of establishing a multi-tribal nation. He was killed
by American troops at the Battle of Thames in 1813. He was not a
Christian. And, yet, he knew how to live in the Christ-light all the
days of his very difficult life. The key was gratitude. Giving
thanks. It still is.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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