My cousin once told me a story about her daughter watching one of those movies about the life of Jesus on TV. The young girl was about 6 or 7 and she was enthraled by it. She had watched it the year before, so she was familiar with the movie.
As the movie reached the part about Jesus' crucifixion and death, the young girl had tears running down her face. She watched as Jesus was placed in the tomb, and the stone was rolled into place. As expected, since this was broadcast TV, the station went to a commercial break. As the theme music fo the movie started again the girl wiped her ace with her sleeve and started bouncing with excitement and said, “Now comes the best part.”
Isn’t that why we celebrate Easter? To celebrate the good part of the last days of Jesus' pilgrimage on earth. To give thanks for Christ's victory over sin and death. To join our voices with millions of his followers around the world singing, "Jesus Christ is risen today!"
During this season of Easter I suggest that we focus on these words from John's Gospel, "Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark." John was simply reporting the facts. And yet, there is another way these words might be interpreted. After all, the writers of the New Testament as well as Jesus himself often used the imagery of darkness and light to signify something else. Mary Magdalene came to the tomb while it was still dark. Darkness could refer to a world without Christ, a world without hope, a world of sin and death, a world where God's promises had been forgotten and God's people felt forsaken. However, darkness is not the end of the story. The dawn broke. God's Son had risen. Alleluia.
On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb while it was still dark and saw that the stone had ben removed from the tomb. (John 20:1)
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Lenten Bloggers Prayer
Our Father
who lives above and beyond the dimension of the internet
Give us this day a life worth blogging,
The access to words and images that express our journey with passion and integrity,
And a secure connection to publish your daily mercies.
Your Kingdom come into new spaces today,
As we make known your mysteries,
Posting by posting,
Blog by blog.
Give this day,
The same ability to those less privileged,
Whose lives speak louder than ours,
Whose sacrifice is greater,
Whose stories will last longer.
Forgive us our sins,
For blog-rolling strangers and pretending they are friends,
For counting unique visitors but not noticing unique people,
For delighting in the thousands of hits but ignoring the ONE who returns,
For luring viewers but sending them away empty handed,
For updating daily but repenting weekly.
As we forgive those who trespass on our sites to appropriate our thoughts without reference,
Our images without approval,
Our ideas without linking back to us.
Lead us not into the temptation to sell out our congregation,
To see people as links and not as lives,
To make our blogs look better than our actual story.
But deliver us from the evil of pimping ourselves instead of pointing to you,
From turning our guests into consumers of someone else's products,
From infatuation over the toys of technology,
From idolatry over technology
From fame before our time has come.
For Yours is the power to guide the destinies behind the web logs,
To bring hurting people into the sanctuaries of our sites,
To give us the stickiness to follow you, no matter who is watching or reading.
Yours is the glory that makes people second look our sites and our lives,
Yours is the heavy ambiance,
For ever and ever,
Amen
This prayer was written by Andrew Jones and found at http://tallskinnykiwi.blogspot.com/2003_03_01_tallskinnykiwi_archive.html#200004297
who lives above and beyond the dimension of the internet
Give us this day a life worth blogging,
The access to words and images that express our journey with passion and integrity,
And a secure connection to publish your daily mercies.
Your Kingdom come into new spaces today,
As we make known your mysteries,
Posting by posting,
Blog by blog.
Give this day,
The same ability to those less privileged,
Whose lives speak louder than ours,
Whose sacrifice is greater,
Whose stories will last longer.
Forgive us our sins,
For blog-rolling strangers and pretending they are friends,
For counting unique visitors but not noticing unique people,
For delighting in the thousands of hits but ignoring the ONE who returns,
For luring viewers but sending them away empty handed,
For updating daily but repenting weekly.
As we forgive those who trespass on our sites to appropriate our thoughts without reference,
Our images without approval,
Our ideas without linking back to us.
Lead us not into the temptation to sell out our congregation,
To see people as links and not as lives,
To make our blogs look better than our actual story.
But deliver us from the evil of pimping ourselves instead of pointing to you,
From turning our guests into consumers of someone else's products,
From infatuation over the toys of technology,
From idolatry over technology
From fame before our time has come.
For Yours is the power to guide the destinies behind the web logs,
To bring hurting people into the sanctuaries of our sites,
To give us the stickiness to follow you, no matter who is watching or reading.
Yours is the glory that makes people second look our sites and our lives,
Yours is the heavy ambiance,
For ever and ever,
Amen
This prayer was written by Andrew Jones and found at http://tallskinnykiwi.blogspot.com/2003_03_01_tallskinnykiwi_archive.html#200004297
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
