2012

Meditations Anticipating Easter

For the Lenten Weeks
There are six weeks in the Lenten season and therefore, six individual documents containing possible ideas to think about and possibly improve lives. The final one is to be read Holy Week in anticipation of Easter Day celebration.

Judy H James Brass Pelican Books. Com 2/22/2012

The First Meditation Anticipating Easter

Judy H. James

Trust Complexion
The trust complexion comes to you, asks you, Feels you really know- and you do. So you speak thoughtfully Deliberately Into those eyes. Remember the smile? Have you seen it in creatures, too? Those who fly overhead know you Though they rarely speak, you are the other Some roam, fly from trees, live under rocks (and hop) Respond when you spent the time Even approach your hand. The child was under two years old and playing with his mother outside on a cold but sunny morning. The woman held a light blanket behind the childs head then dropped it over his face leaving him resembling a ghostly figure. The wise woman did not move from her place before the child and without being able to see her, he walked forward a few steps and threw his arms around her knees whereupon she removed the blanket and began the game again. Both were laughing. A simple game to play with a baby, right? And it especially seems like killing time and getting exercise in the sun, nothing more. The game seemed silly, even too immature for this little one, yet it develops one of the most important lessons we learn in life-trust: Learning trust in relationships through this little game brought to a very personal level the lesson that you can anticipate some people will be there for you; others are reliable. Not having the early experience of being able to predict and depend on someone damages immeasurably leaving us to undo the distorted reality later in life. Had the woman moved away or tripped or tricked the child humiliating him in his attempts to locate her, the message received would be quite different leaving him hurt, frustrated and aggressive and with a disabling lifelong message. I do not know who will read this meditation, but you might extrapolate your own experience; also, it fits within the relationship we have with our Creator. It is He who has made us, not we ourselves, said the Psalmist and in so doing, required our trust in Him; and He has promised always to be with us through the Holy Spirit. Try it, its true!

The Second Meditation Anticipating Easter

Judy H. James My Grasp Sunlight streams reflect and taper Were I bold, could hold them Best on paper But if I wait, procrastinate Like mist they Evaporate in due rain. I fish for opalescence.

It seems to me the things which quietly occur to us are often put out of our thoughts due to distraction or we consciously dismiss them as inconvenient; and when we remember we forgot them, we feel disappointed if we cannot recall the subject and we did not make a note or record those ideas. I would not attempt a behavioral lesson here because people think uniquely. My point is not how to capture vague thoughts but to encourage listening to them by any means. Paying attention to ideas we suppress is likely to turn up something about ourselves we have overlooked. It could be insight into a work project, a feeling we dont want to admit, an ambition, the future. A Southern Baptist minister mentioned in a sermon, years ago a young man in his college class especially befriended him, invited to buy him dinner often, offered to pray with him, hung out; the minister said he was a persistent person with happy goodness in his heart, yet one day he realized this guys goodness was irritating me and confessed that up until that point he had resisted this goodness in himself. The friend was trying to be just that, a good friend and the minister realized he was not trying to be a Christian friend to him in return. Possibly there are myriad ideas floating to our consciousness, some desirable, some not so much. What they say about and to you is up to you to determine and decide about them. If you are a believer, try asking the Holy Spirit to guide and be alongside you while you search.

The Third Meditation Anticipating Easter

Judy H. James

*Scheme of Things Perched on Myrtle branches They forage for the seed A life giving fodder from the lifeless As food for beasts Lies in dry hay fields. How like Him, I muse Through His Grand Design Inconsistencies never flounder Death is earths essential Christ, lifes eternal. To Him it is so simple I am a waif in my Fathers house-left agape, He had not me in mind But Creations hand to hold For all eternity, in so doing Directs universally, ultimately You and me intimately As might appear Inconsistently.

When I thought of this poem I was looking out my window into a winter crepe myrtle with sparrows hopping the branches eating seeds. I easily saw the small things yet was happily surprised to find symbolism in their tiny lifes activity. Just to imagine a Grand Design is difficult at best and second guessing the infinite it is futile; but I do believe the Design fragments fit together as planned for the Greater Good of God and man.

*James, Judy H. 2009.Scheme of Things Tribute, Brass Pelican Books. Com: Houston, Texas 11.

The Forth Meditation Anticipating Easter

Judy H. James

At Just the Right Judy James

A mockingbird Is learning to fly Just outside my window. He leans into gusts Adjusts his wings, flaps to the next limbChecking an approach for height He flies then grasps and clings To the bobbing branch beneath him. I share in his attempts to balance And arrive at just the right angle I help his wings unfold And feel along with him my own fragile self holding And bobbing on a limb. I wonder if he will remember. There is something familiar about This, like walking on stilts, Connecting with a softball, Treading water. Memories fade when Attempts become accomplishments And then, are never forgotten.

The gifts are given and we must learn to manage that God given talent mixture of inspiration, ability, and direction application.

The Fifth Meditation Anticipating Easter

Judy H. James

*Defense Rests
Vassar Miller I want A love to hold In my hand because love Is too much for the heart to bear Alone. Then stop Mouthing to me Faith and Sacraments when The Host feather-heavy weights down My soul. So I Blaspheme! My Lord, Johns head on your breast or Marys lips on your feet, would you Agree? If this Is not enough Upon Your sweat, Your thirst, Your nails, and nakedness I rest My case.

*Miller, Vassar. 1991. If I had Wheels or Love, Southern Methodist Press: Dallas, Texas 72.

The Sixth Meditation Anticipating Easter

Judy H. James Many of us fall short imagining what it was like for the first Christians to find that Jesus, Yahshuah not only was missing from his grave, but alive when they ran to the tomb, and I wonder how that experience changed them personally, emotionally. For instance just to bring this to date, imagine being with medical personnel in a hospital room watching a heart monitor as it flat lines; then after the family has seen the body and said their goodbyes, witness sending the body to the morgue, only to find three days later the corpse walking in the hall? How would you feel? Or, if you witnessed a fatal accident and confirmed all of the three people involved were dead and could not have possibly survived such trauma yet see one of them driving his car three days later? These incidences I have described are disturbing but possibly possible. I would imagine saying something like incredible or I dont believe its the same person. I would be amazed if I accepted the facts or if not, I would deny anything out of the ordinary. It would be easier, more comfortable to continue in routine if I did deny these things rather than feel gullible for believing they happened, do you think? I am trained to question applying critical analysis. The apostles, mature fishermen, knew what lightening and death were, they had probably been confronted by and managed both at sea; both are natural occurrences and although frightening, they were familiar phenomena. And, unfamiliar and amazing as it was, the dead resumed their lives during their lifetimes, too. Mary and Martha were sisters of Jesus good friend, Lazarus and all three were believers in His authority. Indeed, after hearing from friends that Lazarus was ill, He stayed in another city until there was no question of seeing him alive and when he did arrive, Lazarus body had been in the grave for days; in fact, the corpse had been in the grave long enough for the sisters to protest of odor when Jesus asked for the huge stone sealing the burial cave to be removed. He did not enter; He called Lazarus out and out he walked! Miraculous? I guess so much so that the government authorities and the Jewish priests plotted to have Jesus killed for the act. The story spread like wild fire and astonished people gathered seeking the truth. AS outstanding and indelible as this occurrence was, Easter morning was much more significant than these examples. There are at least three differences with Jesus situation and they are: a) these occurrences were predicted of the Messiah in Torah b)Jesus, knew from early age the scripture referred to Himself c) He prepared the apostles for His death and resurrection by teaching them scripture, indicating He was Messiah, and telling them plainly He would die and be resurrected and return to His Father. In the 10th chapter of John we find Him saying that He had the Father's assurance and command that He had the power to lay down his life and the
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power to take it up again. His resurrection expressed at least three things, it was predicted yet especially unexpected, Divine in the most human of circumstances, and the most significant miracle ever to occur. Let us take a look at these three: The Resurrection was Especially Unexpected Sports announcers say it all the time about a special play or when something amazing happens on the playing field, I saw it happen, I know what it was and I still dont believe it. Yet everyone watching knows what happened and can review and confirm it on video. In John we find Jesus explicitly stating He willingly was going to lay down his life and that he had the power from God to take it up again. Yet, who expected this experience? How could a dead Messiah establish a new kingdom-the unexpected yet prophesied absolute crux was this event happened quietly in an ordinary setting. One might have thought at least hosts of angel trumpets and song or a majestic voice booming through the windstorm, something announcing that He was alive forever. But our records indicate that after the darkness of his death, earthquake, the torn temple veil, and aftershock in the garden; that morning was calmed by the Holy, viable, kind voice of the risen Savior saying, Whom do you seek? The Resurrection was Divine in the most human of circumstances. Not many of us wander in grave yards without purpose; we may visit a grave briefly and clean it some or just place flowers or talk with whoever may have accompanied us there. When we lose someone close to us, we are most vulnerable emotionally. Joanna, Mary Magdalene and Mary were in the cemetery after an earthquake had occurred, Matthew indicates there were two earthquakes, one when Jesus died and the other after the Sabbath as the women approached the tomb. There might have been branches and debris, rocks askew which could have heightened their anxiety about what they might find. Mark indicates they were worried about the weight of the stone which would prevent them from entering the tomb with their pungent herbs and spices normally used to mask decay odor. The women knew the prescribed ritual surrounding a death and as good Hebrew women, were prepared to perform those responsibilities now required, perhaps or, they went there to find out if he was alive. Luke indicates the women were there and saw the open tomb but felt no quake, they saw two angels. Their testimony was rejected by the apostles but Peter ran to the tomb. John reports Mary Magdalene reported to Peter the tomb was open and the body missing. In Luke it is written only Peter ran to the tomb but John reports the disciple whom Jesus loved and Peter ran their together. What do you think? The womens testimony was disregarded until the disciples were confronted with the same truth. Having approached the tomb and seeing it already ajar, perhaps they were not only hurt and surprised but terrified and a little offended at the apparent disrespect for someone they loved? They were afraid of the authorities who had Jesus crucified. Jesus was alive just as he had said and had spoken to Mary, then to the others. He called their names; he ate with them, reassured
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them, and reprimanded them for their inability/unwillingness to understand the things He had told them, reminding them of the scriptures prophecies. The Resurrection is the most significant miracle ever to occur. Yet we have small miracles we have seen: they are the slub yarns in the expected fabric of our lives. For a new parent their childs developmental milestones arrive unexpectedly. Although one anticipates in most situations as a babies grow they will turn themselves over and take a first step, yet the exact date and time these things will occur is not written in stone and when they do happen are quiet, and miraculous. Much like the disciples, the knowledge of the risen Christ was in them through Ezra, Isaiah and the other prophets; but the experience knowledge of his resurrection was not real until it occurred. Until that time, they for the most part knew the scriptures, had indeed seen the signs and heard His voice teaching them truth. Until that morning they had lived with and around Him. Until that morning they had accepted Him as part of themselves yet set apart. Until that morning they had become dismayed and afraid and perhaps, disappointed. There can be no greater miracle for humanity than death in human self sacrifice defeated through Almighty God. How privileged were those who lived during His time and witnessed these eventseven so, we may stand alongside Thomas as the Lamb also says to us, Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet still have come to believe.(John 20:29)

Happy Easter!
Easter Lilly Although the season is bitter Placed in the ground of Easter Lily hears the whisper; Despite the winter snow Its verdant petals grow And in thriving shows His purity is affirming Toward resurrection morning; And beneath the lily's forming Flows reviving, living water For brittle sons and daughters To nourish hearts hereafter For the blossom bears no thorn So the gentle Savior has borne His Love, this fragrant morn.

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