HERE REMBRANT SHOWS US MARY MAGDALEN sitting by the empty tomb on Easter morning. She sees Jesus, but thinks he is the gardener. But she recognizes the sound of his voice when he calls her by name. "For real" kids say ~ Jesus knows and speaks my name too.
This is a lovely place for an Easter Meditation. But lots of people say they can't meditate. That's simply not true. We're meditating all the time. Whenever you fix your mind, you're meditating: focusing on a grocery list, watching an eight year old play baseball, preparing a meal from scratch, analyzing a train schedule, studying a road map, arranging flowers, planting a row of lettuce seeds.
And so to fix my mind - and with inner eyes to consider myself with Mary Magdalene that Easter morning. Consider each image slowly and gently:
- It is still dark ~ but just before dawn.
- We expect the tomb to be sealed as it had been left on Friday.
- But the great stone has been rolled away.
- We run to tell the friends of Jesus that his body has been stolen away.
- Peter and John run to the tomb to see for themselves.
- Mary and I catch up and stand outside the tomb crying for our loss.
- Then the men disciples seem to leave, while Mary and I remain behind.
- We look down into the tomb and see angels who ask about our tears.
- We express our sadness.
- We turn and see Jesus in person ~ he too asks about our tears.
- We mistake him for the gardener and ask if he's moved the body of Jesus.
- Jesus ignores the question and simply speaks my name.
- Jesus tells me not to hold onto him ~ the relationship is new.
- He gives us a mandate to tell others about the new life of Resurrection.
- Mary and I run, becoming the first missionaries to a world that needs a good word about life.
Of course you can meditate!
