While I am here on earth let me know you fully; let my love for you grow deeper here, so that there I may love you fully. On earth then I shall have great joy in hope, and in heaven complete joy in the fulfillment of my hope."
- Anselm of Canterbury, (c.1033-1109)
(2/2)
An icon of Anselm of Canterbury. He is wearing bishop's vestments, holding a crozier in his right hand and a miniature church in his left.
"O God, let me know you and love you so that I may find joy in you; and if I cannot do so fully in this life, let me at least make some progress every day, until at last that knowledge, love and joy come to me in all their plenitude.
(1/2)
Fallen pink blossoms on the ground beneath a small tree.
"Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion."
- bell hooks, (1952-2021)
Upside-down trees reflected in a driveway puddle.
"We can stand with our God only insofar as we stand beside and wait in active and compassionate solidarity with children, women, and men who suffer concretely, unbeautifully, and actually in our world which is God's world."
- M. Shawn Copeland, (b. 1947)
Sunrise over a dark line of hills and a few trees to the left and right.
“This is the Easter message, that awakening is possible, to the goodness of God, the sacredness of human life, the sisterhood and brotherhood of all.”
- Anne Lamott, (b. 1954)
Open unto me—wisdom for my confusion.
Open unto me—forgiveness for my sins.
Open unto me—tenderness for my toughness.
Open unto me—love for my hates.
Open unto me—Thy Self for myself.
Lord, Lord, open unto me!
- Howard Thurman, (1899-1981)
(2/2)
Pink blooms on thin tree branches.
Open unto me—light for my darkness.
Open unto me—courage for my fear.
Open unto me—hope for my despair.
Open unto me—peace for my turmoil.
Open unto me—joy for my sorrow.
Open unto me—strength for my weakness.
(1/2)
without destructive greed but only praise
without aggression and invasiveness…
all things Easter new…
all around us, toward us and
by us
all things Easter new.
- Walter Brueggemann, (1933-2025)
(2/2)
Foreground: small white blooms on tree branches, amid churchyard graves. Background: the red-bricked St. Thomas' Episcopal Church, Owings Mills, Maryland.
…Sink your generosity deep into our lives
that your muchness may expose our false lack
that endlessly receiving we may endlessly give
so that the world may be made Easter new,
without greedy lack, but only wonder,
without coercive need but only love,
(1/2)
You are alive with a fuller and deeper life than just your own. Your resources are more than you could ever have imagined."
- Rowan Williams, (b. 1950)
(3/3)
And as it comes to life, you begin to know that no amount of pressure and stress and suffering in your life has power in itself to break the bond that has been created between you and Jesus' life and activity.
(2/3)
A tree blooming with abundant pink leaves.
"If you believe that Jesus rose from the dead, you are not just believing an odd fact from two thousand years ago; you are trusting that there is a kind of life, a kind of love and trust and joy that is the very essence of Jesus' identity which is now coming to life in you.
(1/3)
But it does reveal to us that, indeed, love is stronger than death. After that revelation, we must remain silent, leave the whys, wheres, hows, and whens behind, and simply trust."
- Henri Nouwen, (1932-1996)
(4/4)
The resurrection is God’s way of revealing to us that nothing that belongs to God will ever go to waste. The resurrection doesn’t answer any of our curious questions about life after death, such as How will it be? How will it look?
(3/4)
Through the resurrection, God has said to Jesus, 'You are indeed my beloved Son, and my love is everlasting,' and to us God has said, 'You indeed are my beloved children, and my love is everlasting.'
(2/4)
A tree branch producing small pink leaves.
"The resurrection does not solve our problems about dying and death. It is not the happy ending to our life’s struggle, nor is it the big surprise that God has kept in store for us. No, the resurrection is the expression of God’s faithfulness to Jesus and to all God’s children.
(1/4)
Colorful spring flowers in a glass vase, sitting on a windowsill. Through the window, a view of the St. Thomas' Owings Mills Churchyard.
"To live in the light of the resurrection - that is what Easter means."
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, (1906-1945)
This becomes a vital, ongoing way the grace of the merciful God who liberates from slavery, brings exiles home, accompanies those who suffer, and raises the dead can pervade the world with redeeming love."
- Elizabeth A. Johnson, CSJ, (b. 1941)
(3/3)
Empowered by the Spirit of God, Christians follow Jesus on the path of discipleship, loving God and letting love of neighbor shine in practical ways where suffering and injustice hold sway.
(2/3)
A stone and wrought-iron gate opens to a brick path leading to St. Thomas' Episcopal Church in Owings Mills, Maryland
"The core truth is this: after a vibrant ministry Jesus' death in failure and disgrace met the living God's creative power in the resurrection, which gave his whole life and ministry divine affirmation.
(1/3)
Christians should take a stronger stand in favor of the weak rather than considering first the possible right of the strong."
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, (1906-1945)
(3/3)
Christendom adjusts itself far too easily to the worship of power. Christians should give more offense, shock the world far more, than they are doing now.
(2/3)
"Christianity stands or falls with its revolutionary protest against violence, arbitrariness and pride of power and with its plea for the weak. Christians are doing too little to make these points clear rather than too much.
(1/3)
A tree blooming with pink flowers. The red-bricked St. Thomas' Church stands in the background.
"The affirmation that God resides in Jesus is the affirmation that resident within the body broken and bloodied by the weight of the world, God abides with the tortured, and transforms death into new life."
- Jeannine Hill Fletcher
A glass vase filled with colorful flowers sits on a church windowsill. Through the window, we can see a curving brick path and green grass.
"Maybe amid the power of injustice, destruction, suffering, and death at loose in our tumultuous world, a quiet 'alleluia' can be heard."
- Elizabeth A. Johnson, CSJ, (b. 1941)
A large pot of colorful flowers sits on a brick path. In the background, lines of stone monuments in our church cemetery.
"Just as God freely created all that exists out of nothing, God can freely bring new life out of the apparent nothingness of death. Easter is nothing less than a new creative activity of God that pledges a blessed future of the whole cosmos."
- Elizabeth A. Johnson, CSJ, (b. 1941)
#easter #newlife
Daffodils blooming amid a ruined stone wall.
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
(Lamentations 3:23-24)
#HolyWeek #HolySaturday
