Jesus is risen

"Death cannot stop true love. It can only delay it a while."

I think of Jesus every time I hear that. It's not from the Bible, but from one of my absolute favorite films of all time. Westley said it to Buttercup, who thought he had been dead. Westley also said it in the midst of his act of rescuing Buttercup from the evil hands of Prince Humperdink.

Jesus is my Westley.

Except, of course, Jesus really was dead, and buried, and then raised from the dead. I can't explain it and sometimes I shake my head in disbelief but, boy, do I love it. It is too weird, too wonderful, too incredible to be real, yet those are also the reasons I want to believe it. Jesus' death and resurrection mean we too must die if we want to have new life. This resurrection means we can be changed, because the impossible has happened. We do mourn, grieve, suffer in our pain, troubles, failures, and sins, but that's not the end of the story. In crucial ways these give way to joy, redemption, victory, because that's how God works. Death doesn't have the final say. Love does.

"We are the people of the Passion, yes, but that is neither all we are nor what we are principally. We are an Alleluia people." - J Chittister, The Liturgical Year

He is risen, indeed.

Woot!