Fashion Styles

The Stations of the Resurrection--First Station--Jesus is Raised from the Dead

("The Angel at the Tomb" by Gustave Doré)

Now that Easter is here, and I had so much fun writing my own Stations of the Cross, I've decided that, for Easter, to write my own Stations of the Resurrection (also known as the Via Lucis.) As with the Stations of the Cross, I will try to get one up every three days or so. I hope you will find them helpful for your Easter meditations!

So here we go...

Opening Prayers:

Leader: ✠In the name of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit, our sustainer and redeemer,
People: Amen.

Leader: Alleluia! Christ is risen!
People: The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Leader and People:

Almighty God, who through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life: Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord's resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever, Amen.

Leader: You have prepared for us, O Lord, eternal joys and delights that surpass our understanding.
People: Pour your Son's everlasting goodness into our hearts and feed us with the mysterious delicacies of your holy table. Amen.

The First Station--Jesus is raised from the Tomb

Leader: O Risen Christ, Light of the world, we adore you;
People: You rose from the dead and the stone of our iniquities was rolled away.

As Mary Magdalene and Mary of Clopas approached the tomb where Jesus was interred, they steeled themselves for a hostile reaction. Guards had been placed by the tomb to prevent the body from being stolen. They had already endured the guards' taunts, their wicked and rude comments, and their sexual innuendos. The kindness Jesus had shown upon them when he was alive seemed as dead as he was. But as they drew nearer, they were knocked to the ground by the movement of the earth itself. Suddenly the sky was filled with a brilliant flash of light, and to their amazement, they saw that the heavy stone covering the mouth of the tomb had rolled away from the entrance and was lying flat on the ground. Sitting atop the stone was a man in dazzling white robes, radiant like the sun. The guards wanted no part of what had happened, and the stress caused them to faint.

The two Marys shook with fear as they peeped into the tomb. It was empty! What did this angel do with him? "Don't be afraid," the angel said. "I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.”

Leader: The two Marys had expected to find sorrow;
People: But instead found an angel and an empty tomb.

Leader: Let us pray.
(a brief period of silence is observed.)

Holy and immortal God,
Where we expect to find sorrow and fear,
help us to find light and life.
Where we expect to find tormentors,
help us to find angels.
Where we expect to find death,
help us to find resurrection.
In the name of Jesus Christ we pray.

People: Amen.

Leader: Alleluia! Christ is risen!
People: The Lord is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Noticing the Mourners

This morning I had seen over on Episcopal Cafe this very interesting virtual art exhibit of tomb statues of mourners at the tombs of the Dukes of Burgundy. I immediately became captivated by them. Evidently, the various dukes must have wanted to be mourned in perpetuity, long after those who remembered them in the flesh were gone.

So why, in the first week of the 50 days of celebrating resurrection, was I captivated by statues of mourners?

This one, in particular, struck me. He is putting his robe up to his eyes, obviously crying. But his face is covered by his hood. He does not want everyone to see that he is tearful. It made me realize that sometimes, in seasons of joy, we can become so caught up in the joyfulness that we forget to notice those in the background who are mourning. We might not have noticed this person was mourning had he not been caught dabbing his eyes with his robe. Maybe he is just a solemn face in a crowd otherwise.

Part of the spirit of the Resurrection, I believe, is to comfort those who mourn in the face of joy, because whatever causes them to mourn is not to be ignored in the face of joy, but perhaps "brought along for the ride." The Resurrection is big enough to take on mourners.

This has been one of life's lessons that maturity has brought me. It used to be unnerving for me, when I was being joyful, to have an unhappy or sad person in my midst. Weren't they "getting it?" I was happy, everyone around me was supposed to be happy, why don't they just suck it up and be happy with me, at least for a little while? I used to work really hard at "getting them to come around." I was bewildered why they found my efforts painful.

But as time passes, and I start becoming more aware that the Easter message is not of my making, nor is its power mine to control, I have become far less unnerved about this proposition. As people die out of my life, and others are born behind me, and people move away and divorce and die and relationships change, I have better come to realize that grief and joy can coexist. Another's grief cannot take away joyful things that are bigger than ourselves, nor can my mood, whether it is joyful or grieving, affect the grace and peace of Christ.

This Easter weekend, I thought back to the Easters of my childhood. I am grateful I no longer have to dress up in the ridiculous outfits I was forced to wear in church at Easter. Yet I miss the baked ham at my great-grandmother's house. Memories, if remembered correctly and fully, are always two-edged. To remember only the good, or only the bad, removes the total humanity of them.

Perhaps the more important question, as I pondered this statue, is "Why did this mourner feel the need to cover his face?" I suppose the answer lies in the same places as the answers to such questions as, "Why do I always feel I need to be the stoic in the room? Why do I feel I never have the luxury to break down?" When tragedy strikes, somehow I always seem to play the role of "the strong one." The truth is, this statue is no different than me. My tears are often hidden, just as "under my hood" as those of this mourner. Sometimes I act as if my open tears will pollute the universe. It's doubtful that would be the end result of the prospect of me mourning openly.

Then I thought for a while about the purpose of these statues. The dukes of Burgundy were not exactly doing without. Yet it seemed important--a basic human need, in fact--to have eternal reminders of being a person once worth mourning. If we do things right in this world, we WILL be mourned. We all have hopes that something of us remains in this mortal coil beyond the time frame of our lives. In short, we desire a tiny sliver of immortality. Truth be known, part of what we seek when we seek a relationship with God is a slice of our own immortality in the face of a finite life span--ultimately, what we seek when we really admit "what's under it all" is some sort of assurance of "self" beyond a finite life. Christ's resurrection becomes our hope that something of us exists beyond death. Not a narcissistic hope like the dukes of Burgundy who felt insecure enough to have ready-made perpetual mourners, but a hope that transcends space and time--and maybe that is what the Resurrection is all about.

Tattoos on Hip

so sexy..............

Kalymnos 2010 - Trip Report 4 (Grande Grotta)

It's THE most famous area on the island. A truly world class cave, possibly the most heavily stalactite-laden climbing cave in the world. You call it the Grande Grotta. We call it today's playground :) Seriously, the Grande Grotta is spectacular. You've never seen such rock architecture, absolute chock-covered with dripping stalactites. It's crazy. And the routes are crazy.

We had a sprinkle of rain in the morning. That was all it took to ensure we'd have a crowd up in the cave sector, where you can be guaranteed dry rock. Because of this, Owen wasn't taking any chances. No warm up, his rope was placed directly underneath Trella 7a, the mind boggling 40m pitch of uber proportions. (Trella translates to 'madness'). He laced himself to the nines with a veritable hula-skirt of quickdraws, and set to work. Like most of the insanely steep routes here, Trella does have rest positions, and the key to climbing it is to find the rests and use them well. Whether it's riding a stalactite, copping a kneebar, or bridging between your feet and back like a chimney. Owen used them all and came to within two metres of the top of the giant beast. It was then we saw him start to shake and the cry echoed out "You've got to be kidding me!". As if sensing his plight, everyone in the Grotta stopped, paused, and then erupted into encouragement in all languages. "Allez Allez!" "Venga!" "Come on!" With his last ounce of strength, he held it together, made the final move and clipped the anchor. Cheers!

Susy's fave pitch from the last camp was Trella and she'd pitched off the finale. So there's no doubt it was going down on this trip. Not today though! It's a tough unit and commands respect every time, as Glenn found out at about the 2/3 point on his flash attempt when he climbed high, yet could not get into a stable position to clip. The resulting fall was a biggie. Maybe 8-10m? Later in the day for some extra training, he toproped the line to clean the quickdraws only to fall on the final hold! Well, we know the route won't be getting underestimated at the next rematch (stay tuned).

The route DNA 7a+ is in the guts of the Grotta and is steeeeep. Perhaps 40 degrees overhung for its entire 20m length. Huge holds for sure, but you better be able to find those rests, otherwise your forearms may explode. We asked Matt if he'd try for the onsight. "Nah, I can't onsight it - I'll try for the flash." Huh? You haven't been here before!? "Well, I watched the video on YouTube." Ahh - climbing in the modern age! After he somehow talked Susy into putting the quickdraws up for him, he didn't disappoint, with a very smooth flash of the route, finding two upside down hands off double kneebars, amongst a multitude of other rests. So, a 'hardest flash' PB for the Slab King.

Speaking of kneebars, Sam managed to wrangle her first hands free kneebar on her ascent of Monahiki Elia 6a+. This pumpy steep route had been a nemesis for the Slab Queen on previous trips, so she did really well to fire it off first try. Sheree did likewise.

And me? Well I had a ripper day running around shooting video, taking photos, avoiding doing much belaying, and I even managed to do some climbing. In fact, one of my best onsighting days I've had. It was "Attack of the Long Routes". Packed away safe and sound were Aeolia Extension 40m 7a+, Tufantastic 40m 7b+, and Super Carpe Diem 40m 7c. The 7c (my best OS grade) was a funny one, as Sam had already walked down with most of the group and as I was getting ready to climb, I realised she had my climbing shoes. So the only option was to wear hers! Thank goodness 1) my wife and I have the same size climbing shoes, 2) it's a steep Kalymnos route and footwork is optional and 3) I'm comfortable wearing ladies shoes.

Oh, and on the walk-out, I touched a goat. I am now the goat whisperer.