Michele LaPointe shares with us: It was dark and we were afraid. Shadows danced under grotesquely reaching trees. Mist swirled around our legs, causing the familiar to become unfamiliar; the safe, chillingly dangerous. We wrapped our arms around our stiff bodies as we walked, step-by-step, speaking only in hushed tones of Him.
We moved as quickly as we could through the eerie dark, following the rough and snaking path to Him. The need, still a raw wound, grew like a child beneath my heart. I desired him like nothing else. His closeness. His attention. I needed to gaze upon Him again.
He needed nothing from me; perhaps my gentle tending, my meager spices, my cold, efficient hands.
When we finally arrived, we were confused. The stone had been moved away.
How was this possible? My mind reeled with questions. Was this a trick of the soldiers guarding the tomb?
My heart was being ripped from my chest with a familiar pain. My first love had been stolen from me yet again.
Suddenly, it was as if the very air around us was sucked away. I fought to breathe.
"Where are You, my Lord?" I gasped.
My fear prevented me from entering the cave myself. I stood staring as Peter and John found the courage and entered.They found my Lord's linen burial cloths folded neatly. Empty.
"It is as He has passed entirely through them," Simon Peter said. "We must tell the others."
They all turned toward the path to leave. But my heart rebelled. We must do something.We must fix this! We cannot just walk away.
My begging tears did not stop them as they filed, one-by-one onto the narrow path back to town.
They left me bent with pain. I felt as if I could weep until the new red dawn rose over me. Finally I knelt exhausted on the hard packed earth.
"Where are you my Love? Why have you left us?"
I could almost picture His eyes searching my soul; hear His infectious laughter once again. I could feel His hand on my shoulder as He guided me, His voice as He taught. The comfort He provided for us as we followed him was gone forever.
Wait.
What was that sound?
When I looked up, I thought I saw a flash of light inside the cave. Fear crawled up my back like a thousand spider feet, but I knew I had to get up and look. It could be Him!
Couldn't they see the obvious?
But then I heard this: a faint sound like spring rain caressing the fig leaves, the wind whispering through tall cedars the waters of a brook careening over smooth stones.
"Who is there? Come out. You are shadowed. Or do my tears cause my vision to blur? Where have you taken my Lord? I must anoint Him."
"Mary."
My name. He spoke my name! those four little letters created an immediate truth. He whispered into my soul the me that had been lost. In that brief second, I knew. I was completed. My heart recognized Him because He had chosen me.
"Rabboni!"
c 5/19/2011 M. LaPointe
[Google images added]
Used by permission
Prayer: “Dear Lord, I am so thankful
that You are always
present. I never need to make an appointment to speak to
You, the God of the universe. No matter where I go or what
present. I never need to make an appointment to speak to
You, the God of the universe. No matter where I go or what
time
it is, I can depend on Your presence.
When you come to the Lord, there is no waiting line.
His ears are always open to your cry.” Our Daily Bread 4/1/13
Our prayer challenge: There are wells under cities full of blue spiritual water that are waiting to be released through intercessory prayer! It has been said that NY is the spiritual lion head of our country, and as this is a sign of authority, how NY goes, so goes the nation!
Biblical Virtues to pray for your children: #28 Self discipline. "Father, I pray that my children may acquire a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and fair" Prov. 1:3.
Today's quote: Gilbert Bilezikian "On the first Easter morning...the smothering silence that insulates the domain of the dead from the world of the living was suddenly shattered."
Our thought for today: God uses process to take us from where we're at today to where He wants to bring us, with the understanding that his process includes trials, hardships, struggles, suffering, etc in order to ultimately produce maturity and completeness in Christ. [Jeff McGrath]
Tomorrow’s post: From Bleak to Beautiful Julie Ackerman Link
A popular post: Crises Always Reveal Character
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