We come to the eighth step of our Paschal Journey, the Resurrection. I have often wondered what it was like for Jesus to awaken in his body, to re-inhabit the body that carried him on this earth for 33 years. To breathe oxygen once more into his lungs, to feel the rush of blood through his veins, to taste, to smell, to feel, to hear, I wonder what it was like for him to experience this once more.
After the tremendous suffering of our Crucible, there comes that moment when we realize that the suffering as horrible as it may have been was not the end of us. The respite for which we longed, the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, has finally arrived for us. When we begin to realize that life does continue, we begin, metaphorically, to arise from our grave. And, in so doing, discover that the Crucible has changed us. We are not the person we were prior to the Crucible. The suffering has altered us. It has altered our life, our understanding of the world in which we live. We begin to discover that which has true value. That which has true value is simplified. That which we value is not that which use to clutter up our lives. We find that above all, it is the relationship we have with those significant in our lives that holds true value. And, if we look deep enough, we discover in those relationships our relationship with God. As Martin Buber expresses so clearly in his book “I And Thou”, our relationships with others are windows upon which we look upon the face of the Divine Thou, God.
In the resurrections which have occurred in my life following suffering, I find myself rejoicing in the new life that has been given to me. And, in my rejoicing, I often wonder the unknown that lays ahead of me clothed, as always, in mystery.
Here is the music that accompanies this 8th step. As you listen to the music, meditate on the experience of the resurrection that followed your suffering. How did it feel to “rise from the dead?” What insight had you gained from both your dying and your rising? In what way did you change from who you once were? In what ways has your values changed?
