Scripture Text:  Luke 1: 46b-55

“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

So, what next?  What comes after all this journeying, all these vast and varied emotions?  What comes after this 40 days of moving toward the cross?  What comes after Easter morning?  What exactly are we supposed to do with a Risen Savior?  What are we supposed to do with this redeeming work of God?  What are we supposed to do with a world that is filled with the Divine?  What do we do with vanquished death and a Creation created yet again?  What do you do when you find that you’ve been re-created?

If the 40 days of Lent are our journey toward who God calls us to be, the 50-day journey of Eastertide is our becoming.  (50 DAYS???  This journey is LONGER than the one we’ve just finished?)  It may have seemed easier before, when we were being called to follow, being called to look to Jesus for our teachings, for our way of becoming what we should be.  But now, we are not being told to follow.  We are being told to “Go”.  Go?  Go where?   Go and become.  Go and be disciples.  Go and embody all that is Jesus Christ.  Go become the Word incarnate, the Spirit of Christ here on this earth. Go and live as one resurrected, as one who IS a new creation, as one who walks with a Risen Christ.   (Wow! And we thought LENT was hard!)

So, go forth into the world, into your life. Go forth and become the Living Christ, the embodiment of the One who has Risen. Take the road of new Creation.  But, remember, you are never alone. The very Divine has spilled into our world.

I don’t know Who—or what—put the question. I don’t know when it was put.  I don’t even remember answering.  But at some moment I did answer Yes to Someone—or Something—and from that hour I was certain that existence is meaningful and that, therefore, my life, in self-surrender, had a goal.  From that moment I have known what it means “not to look back,” and “to take no thought for the morrow.”  (Dag Hammarskjold)

Christ the Lord is Risen!  The Lord has risen indeed!

Grace and Peace,

Shelli

So, what next?  I’m grateful that you have joined me on this daily journey through the Lenten season.  Now there is work to do.  I will continue to post on this blog perhaps once or twice a week, so stay tuned!  I will also continue posting my notes for the Lectionary scriptures on http://journeytopenuel.com once a week, so I invite you to join me there too!  Thank you again for journeying with me!  Keep dancing!  Shelli