Tuesday in the Easter Octave ~ the Harrowing of Hell

 

The Eastern Christian image for Easter is not of Jesus stepping out of the tomb or floating above it, but this icon titled: The Harrowing of Hell. Synonyms for harrowing might be words like — terrifying, heart-rending, alarming, traumatic, chilling, distressing, excruciating. 

"He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended into hell. These words start off the millions of rosaries that are prayed every day around the world. We do think about what we say? 

If "hell" is a kind of semi-geographical place, then what? But I would suggest "hell" has much more to do with the deepest decent of humankind's mind.  It is the pit below we see in the icon — the dark, hideousness of our depraved offenses before God. It's the devilish insanity, the monstrous mind that wants us chained and imprisoned. Jesus has found us there and invaded it. See the locks and keys, the hardware that keeps humanity sealed in.                

Jesus, champion-like, rushes to our rescue, breaking down the now crisscrossed gates behind which humanity sits, trapped, side-tracked and lost. This icon is a detail of a much larger frescoed monastery wall. We don't see the many other figures who Christ has already pulled out of the hell-hole, the death hole. See Eve already rescued on the right, and last of all old Adam. In other words — the long human story.

The harrowing of hell is Christ, invading that human state of mind, heart and soul that from early on has quarantined itself off from light and life.

There have been more than 107 mass shootings in our nation already this year —a marked increase over last year. By definition, a mass shooting leaves four or more persons dead at a time. No one is spared — even little children are dead. No place is spared — parks, synagogues, churches, mosques. We may take notice for a news cycle, sending up "thoughts and prayers." I think that's blasphemous (a God insult while we do nothing about why it happens). The murderous state of hell-mind is enabled by gun lust, gun fetish, gun worship — an idolatry no less than that of the wild dance around that other stupid god of metal in the Sinai desert. The new "wild dance" is the twists and turns we perform to defend guns of the most outrageous kind — the 2nd amendment more sacred than a bible verse. Lots of Christians do the dance.

And there are many other hellish states of mind — the colonial explorer-world which was, in truth, a plunder-r world, the drug underworld, the organized crime underworld, the sex trafficking underworld, the underworld that rapes the planet for greed, the secreted sex abuse underworld of institutions (including the Church,) the genocide underworld, the underworld of bold-faced lies, the global militarization underworld that enriches some nations, while leaving others shockingly poor. The dark pit in the icon is the humanity-mind that lets children starve to death, that weeds out to extinction the weaker ones. 

The Bubble-World I sometimes reference here is the, "I don't want to know about it," world. Anyway, we believe that Christ has stepped down into that world and beat it back. Then why is it still so sadly, even depressingly operative? Have we failed Christ who invites us to learn from him? Do we just admire Christ in a monstrance or tabernacle, but perhaps, even unknown to ourselves, think him to be  naïve, having nothing to do with how we live on this planet? It is said, "It is easier to move a mountain than to change a human heart." So, this Eastertime I will resist the Bubble-World and do everything I can to get Christ (his new mind) into my life — there is everything to take him away. 

Is there some wintry, ice encased, inner thought-place, some inside piece of me, that Christ wants to harrow? Which is by no means the same as flashing a Jesus Saves banner at the next anti-anything riot, or standing up a ten foot cross in front of a governor's mansion or court house. It's alarmingly personal.

Easter Hymn to the Theotokos

Today is Monday in the Easter Octave. Easter is so big, there is so much to tell, it gets eight days of overflow in which to tell it. 

Here is the early 16th century painting of the Risen Christ announcing the Resurrection to his Mother.  It is a tiny image, smaller than a usual piece of paper, painted by Juan de Flandes as part of a many scene-d composition for Isabella, a Spanish Queen. Originally made up of forty-seven scenes of Jesus' life, twenty- seven have survived. 

There is no biblical account of Jesus addressing his mother after the Resurrection. Someone at some other time had the inventive, spiritual insight to imagine that even before the myrrh-bearers came to the tomb, Jesus had already gone to share with his Mother the news of his rising. That heart-story was handed on in some places within Europe from the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance. And why not? 

Notice how much the depiction echoes paintings of the Annunciation—Jesus is standing where Gabriel would usually stand and Mary is surprised while at her prayer. Angels are fascinated onlookers. Heaven is opened and the Spirit is present, symbolized in the upper left corner. 

The idea is understandable on an emotional Mother-Child level but has even greater significance if we remember that Mary is the first disciple (the first to say yes to Jesus). And so the painting might well be imaging Christ come to reveal and address himself to each of us. We're  in the long line of disciples of which Mary is in the lead. We're as eager as she, to look up, to see him and to know him in the newness of Easter—his having gone through death to a newness of life—now, today! Don't just be a religious admire-r, but ask, what might this mean for me personally?

And here is a Paschal Hymn to the Theotokos (Mother of God) sung in Eastern Christian churches. The hymn begins with an Angel (or is it Christ himself?) making the Easter announcement to Mary.

The Angel cried to the Lady full of grace:

Rejoice, O Pure Virgin! I say:

Rejoice! Your Son is risen from His three days in the tomb!

With Himself He has raised all the dead!

Rejoice, all ye people!

Shine! Shine! Shine, O New Jerusalem!

The glory of the Lord has shone on you!

Dance now and be glad, O Zion!

Be radiant, O Pure Theotokos, in the Resurrection of Your Son!

Easter Monday at Levitan's Grave

Easter is so big it can't be celebrated in one day, so it overflows into an eight-day octave. The day after Easter Sunday has many names: Bright Monday, Pasquetta or Renewal Monday. In the Middle Ages it was called Laughing Monday - laughing at Satan who got his comeuppance.

I thought after spending almost fifty days reflecting on the painting-gifts of Isaak Levitan, we could visit his grave in the Novodevichy Cemetery and bless God for all the artist has brought to mind.

To bless God means to joyfully express gratitude to God, to admire God's beauty, wonders, goodness, richness, graciousness. To bless God means to delight in my own personal experience of God. O God,  you are very great!

Bless the Lord my soul and forget not all his benefits. Psalm 103:2

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. Psalm 100:4

Bless God!
For sunlight,
lamplight,
firelight,
starlight and 
moonlight in phases.

Bless God!
For riverside,
streams,
trails,
paths and roads,
mountains and hills.

Bless God!
For spring thawing,
summer ferns,
autumn birches and
winter snow.

Bless God!
For twilight of
morning,
twilight of 
evening,
daytime,
nighttime,
fog and mist.

Bless God!
For dandelion and lilac,
cornflower,
grasses,
forget-me-not and moss.

Bless God!
For stormy rain
and pebbled beach,
forest edge, 
and flowering field.

Bless God!
For high water,
low water
watery depths,
shallow shorelines
and cloud reflections.

Bless God!
For meadows and groves,
bridges and boats,
silent churches,
stillness
and prayer.

Sunday in the Easter Octave: "As stars illumine the night..."

Astrophotography 

Lot's of people write about the sadness they feel living in a world that's so dark and fearsome. Sister Faustina (1905-1938) wrote her diary as Hitler (German Chancellor 1933-45) was gearing up and accruing power to himself. She wrote in her diary:

"Chosen souls are, in my hand, lights which I cast into the darkness of the world and with which I illumine it. As stars illumine the night, so chosen souls illumine the earth. And the more perfect a soul is, the stronger and the more far reaching is the light shed by it. It can be hidden and unknown, even to those closest to it, and yet its holiness is reflected in souls even to the most distant extremities of the world."

We don't talk much about our souls anymore. And that's a shame because soul is our innermost part. We could say it's the part of us that is most real. But distracted as we are by so much outer life, our souls are often unattended and un-evolved. But Faustina uses the word soul generously in her writing. In this entry she likens souls to stars shining in a dark world. What did she know about the spreading darkness coming out of Germany? She died in 1938, the year before her country, Poland, was invaded by Germany.

I have an extra thought though about Faustina's use of the word chosen. As if some souls are chosen and other souls not? I'd say, as God's children, we're all chosen to be lights in a dark world. But we're free to do with that divine honor as we will. So, as stars illumine the night...

let your compassion shine.
let your generosity shine.
let your smile shine.
let your eyes shine.
let your hospitality shine.
let your availability shine.

Like Paul Simon sings in The Only Living Boy in New York, "Hey, let your honesty shine, shine, shine..."

And then let God do with it as God wills.

Saturday in the Easter Octave: "And God made the seasons."

Warm and Bright ~ Photograph: Jeriff Cheng

And God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth."  (Genesis 1:14)

This verse recounts the fourth day of creation in the Book of Genesis: God created the seasons. We might think the author had in mind the four seasons we're accustomed to: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. But an ancient agricultural Chinese Calendar,  watched the movements of nature so closely it envisioned twenty-four seasons. And while it acknowledged solstices and equinoxes, it looked more deeply, seeing movements within the water, air, the animals and plants. China is a vast country and so the calendar was not accurate for all parts of the country. We can imagine local adjustments were made. 

This calendar invites us to be more observant and reflective. Here are the approximate dates and the lovely seasonal names assigned to each bit of time and change: 

January 6 ~ the cold begins
January 20 ~ the coldest time
February 4 ~ spring begins
February 19 ~ the rains begin
March 5 ~ the insects and animals awaken
March 20 ~ night and day are of equal length.
April 4 ~ the time of warm and bright
April 19 ~ the rains helpful to grow
May 5 ~ summer begins
May 20 ~ the seeds of summer begin to grow
June 5 ~ the wheat grows ripe
June 21 ~ the longest day and the shortest night
July 7 ~ slight heat
July 22 ~ thunder storms begin ~ the hottest time
August 7 ~ autumn begins
August 23 ~ the heat hides
September 7 ~ dew begins
September 22 ~ the middle of autumn
October 8 ~ the dew is very cold
October 23 ~ frost descends
November 7 ~ winter begins
November 22 ~ the lesser snow
December 7 ~ the greater snow
December 21 ~ the shortest day ~ the longest night

I'm thinking of the yellow Coltsfoot of yesterday's post - it blooms only for a short time. We could call that flowering time a season. A season could be marked by the spring sound of the peepers which began chirping like clockwork last night (check out the post for April 14, 2015). We could create our own personal seasons of gratitude.

Friday in the Easter Octave: The Moral Hint of Coltsfoot

This is Coltsfoot which might be mistaken for the common dandelion. Coltsfoot spreads by rhizomes which are horizontal stems running on, or just under, the surface of the soil, sending out new roots and shoots along the way. The Audubon book of Native Plants reports that Coltsfoot grows along roadsides and in waste places. 

That having been said, I welcome Coltsfoot every year as it seems to be the earliest flower detected in March, and even February if the conditions are right. Coltsfoot brings a bright yellow-joy to marginal or useless situations. And Jesus said, "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." (John 15:11) My joy...your joy.

I remember once seeing a badly behaved and emotionally stuck teenaged girl dissolve into convulsive tears, and when the staff member asked in frustration, "What do you want?" she blurted out, "I just want to be happy." Isn't that what every human person wants - to be happy and not to suffer? 

So here's a simple thought for our everyday morality as we'll each make hundreds of decisions and choices today: to bring happiness...to alleviate suffering - maybe especially to those places and persons deemed miserable, negligible, barren, non-productive. We might scroll back up to the top now to have a more meditative look at the Coltsfoot plant which blooms bright yellow along roadsides and in waste places. 

Wednesday in the Easter Octave

The Western Church calls these days the Easter Octave - an overflow of eight days - each prayer in the present tense - today! The Eastern Church calls these days Bright Week. Each day filled with the light of the Resurrection. At Athos, the icon of the Mother of God Glykophilousa is carried in procession. Here is the accompanying hymn:

The angel cried to the Lady full of grace:
Rejoice, O pure Virgin!
Again I say: Rejoice! 
Your Son is risen from His three days in the tomb!
Shine! Shine! O New Jerusalem!
The glory of the Lord has shone on you!
Dance now and be glad, O Zion!
Be radiant, O Pure Theotokos,
in the Resurrection of Your Son!

• Theotokos is Greek for Mother of God. 
• Glykophilousa means Sweet Kissing or Loving Kindness. In Christ, born of Mary, the world is kissed by God.
• And who's the New Jerusalem? Who's Zion? It's us! 
• Rejoice! Shine! Dance! Be glad! Be radiant! We're invited to enter an inner world of happiness.

Tuesday in the Easter Octave: Jesus, Risen Gardener

Rembrandt ~ Jesus, Risen Gardener

In preparation for my First Communion I was catechized in 1957-58 by a young Franciscan nun, Sister Vincent. My world was already delightful with crayons, training wheel bike and over the fence there were still wooded lots. Then...

She told me of your Resurrection, O Christ my beloved:
of the myrrh-bearing women who ran in fear and joy,
of your Easter morning gardener-disguise,
of the beach-breakfast you prepared on the charcoal fire,
of your honeycomb lunch -
   sweetness of God's life,
   after the vinegar we gave you to drink,
of your candlelight dinner with news-weary friends,
of your wounds shining like the crocus in snow,
of your peace-laden breath,
of your eyes wide awake
looking compassion upon our Good Friday world - 
   of human bombs,
   and sexualized infants,
   of despised refugees
   and oil-soaked seabirds,
   of burning forests
   and discount spice.

Stay with us Lord, it is already late.

Father Stephen Morris

Monday in the Easter Octave

Nicholas Haberschrack ~ The Three Marys ~ 15th century

Having heard from the angel

the glad tidings of the Resurrection,

and that the ancient curse was done away,

the women disciples of the Lord

cried exaltingly unto the apostles,

"Death is no more
and Christ our God is risen,
granting to the world great mercy."

Eastern Christian Hymn

Saturday in Easter Week

In our hemisphere Easter is celebrated when spring arrives: when ice melts and water flows again, when the ground thaws and green things emerge. It's the time of fragrance and fresh color. Birds return, nests are built and animals are born. Everything seems to announce with joy, I can change! People can become new!

Friday of Easter Week

Early Spring Marsh Marigold

Before the Easter dawn the body of Jesus lay abandoned in the darkness of the tomb. There is a great sadness in this: Jesus, who loved to be with us, was locked away. But where had he really gone? "He descended into hell," we pray in the Creed. Having hidden ourselves from God, Jesus has gone to the deepest place of human loss to find and reclaim us.

Bishop Untener asked it this way: "If my mind were a hard drive, and on the day of my death it were opened up, what would it reveal?" Jesus goes there - to that most miserable, confused, fearful, damaged place in each of us. And finding us he says, to my joy, "Here you are! I have found you! You are mine!"

Intercessions ~ Sunday in the Easter Octave

We pray for those who in the Easter time are meeting Jesus for the first time in the water of Baptism,/ asking for them to be strengthened and joyful in their new friendship with Christ./We pray for those who because of their Baptism are taxed,/ harassed,/ persecuted and even killed./ We pray to the Lord.

Globally there are reported to be almost two and a half million persons trapped in human trafficking./ Three million of them are children./ We ask for that new world where persons are safe and free./ We pray to the Lord.

Pope John XXIII's encyclical Peace on Earth/ condemned the killing of civilians in war./ We pray for non militants/ whose safety is threatened by airstrikes in many places./ We pray to the Lord.

At Easter/ Pope Francis asked us to join him in prayer for those nations of the world being destroyed by violent conflicts./ And so we pray with him for the restoration of peace in Syria,/ South Sudan,/ Kenya,/ Nigeria,/ the Republic of Congo,/ Yemen,/ Iraq and Afghanistan./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for our families in the Easter time/ mindful of those who are sick,/ anxious,/ worried,/ addicted,/ or troubled in any way./ For gifts of healing and wholeness./ We pray to the Lord.

Our poor world is burdened and weakened in a great flood of guns and weapons./ We pray for those who make huge profits in the production and widespread sale of these new gods of metal./ We pray to the Lord.

For those who have died since last Easter to know God's eternal joys/ and for those around the world who are dying today in so many invasions,/ wars,/ and awful acts of terrorist violence./ We ask for a new global regard for life./ We pray to the Lord.

Thursday of Easter Week

On the night of Jesus' garden-arrest, Peter pretended not to know Jesus. Maybe he was depressed because sometime after Easter morning, Peter and his friends went back to their old job of fishing. They met Jesus on the beach where he surprised them with a great catch of fish and breakfast.

Then Jesus asked, "Peter, do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me more than all the others?" And each time Peter, undoing his earlier denials, affirmed  his love for Jesus, And with each affirmation,  Jesus gave him a new job: "Feed my lambs. Take care of my sheep. Feed my sheep." (John 21:1-23) 

Of course, even though the picture above charms us (I couldn't resist its tenderness) Jesus isn't talking about animals, but people. We've all got a Jesus-given-job. Maybe I haven't had a talk with him about this in a long time. 

Tuesday of Easter Week

Guards were posted outside the tomb of Jesus; the religious leaders wanting to be sure the body of Jesus wasn't stolen. Or maybe they were secretly afraid of the resurrection?  And there is something that wants me entombed as well - locked in anti-love - in the death of addiction, cravings, fears, anger and that terrible tiresome, religious pride that believes and argues: I'm right; you're wrong.

But Jesus invites me to my own personal Easter. He wants nothing more than that I would follow him through the Holy Saturday of my personal inner darkness to the brightness of Easter morning - a changed and evolved way of thinking and acting. 

Can I imagine giving up one old harangue, complaint or negative refrain that I keep rehearsing and returning to again and again. It's boring, worn out and produces nothing of life. Some people don't even hear themselves.

Monday of Easter Week

This lovely, low-to-the-ground spring flower is called Glory of the Snow. I expect it warrants that name as it blooms early, like snowdrops, and the blue set against the late winter/early spring snow must be striking indeed! The spiritual life, like the spring, unfolds gradually. We must be patient and attentive. 

And today is Monday in the Easter Octave. Easter is too big to celebrate in one day, and so it overflows into eight. This is largely lost on a culture that's on speed, but there it is, for anyone who might care. Maybe it's the Church telling us: Slow down, slow down - Oh for heaven's sake, slow down.

~ ~ ~ 

One of the Easter gospels, (Matthew 28: 1-8), tells us that there was an earthquake as the tomb was opened to show the myrrh-bearing women that Jesus was not there. He has gone through death! His rising shakes up our world. Get it?

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says things like: The first shall be last, make peace before coming with a gift to the altar, pray for those who persecute you, stop judging, own nothing, carry your cross, stop hating, the one who is greatest is the servant of all...(Matthew 5,6 7) There are more than a few Christians who have all kinds of political, social and personal opinions about everything under the sun, but they have never read the Sermon on the Mount which contains the fundamental or foundational teachings of Jesus Christ. 

Maybe they are afraid of the the heart-mind Easter earthquake which might follow.

Saturday in the Easter Octave ~ Paschal Hymn to the Mother of God

                                    The Angel cried to the Lady full of grace:
                                    Rejoice, Rejoice O Pure Virgin!
                                    Again I say: Rejoice! 
                                    Your Son is risen from His three days in the tomb!
                                    With Himself He has raised all the dead!
                                    Rejoice, Rejoice all ye people!
                                    Shine! Shine! Shine O New Jerusalem!
                                    The glory of the Lord has shone on you!
                                    Dance now and be glad, O Zion!
                                    Be radiant, O Pure Theotokos,
                                    in the Resurrection of Your Son!

There are nine exclamation points in the hymn above, indications of surprise and delight. And while there is no biblical account of Mary receiving her own personal visitation of an Easter Angel, here, out of love, the Church has created this most happy and tender scene. 

But the hymn is about the New Jerusalem too, of which Mary is a type or image in faith. That New Jerusalem (Zion) is the Church, the family of Christ born in Baptism. The angel even directs us to dancing in the joy of Christ's trampling on death. And of course, Theotokos is the Greek word for Mother of God.

As the luminous icon doesn't seem to have any name, we might call her something like, Mother of God, Rejoicing or Mother of God ~ Easter Brightness. 

Friday in Bright Week ~ Christ Alpha and Omega

Christ yesterday and today, 
the beginning and the end, 
the alpha
and the omega,
to him belongs time
and the ages
to Him be glory and empire
throughout all the ages of eternity.

Every priest began the great vigil on Holy Saturday night with these words as he incised the Greek letters into the wax of the candle.

The central monogram here that looks like a P with an X through it or superimposed stands for the sacred name, Jesus Christ. The alpha and omega dangle from its arms. These are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. But what does it mean?

In Christ, there is the love of God from start to finish.

In Christ, there is the love of God for all of troubled humanity in its
      long story. Can you feel it?

In Christ, there is the embrace of God for our individual and
      familial lives.

In Christ, there is an inclusive mercy. Is our message really
      salvation for all?

Christ, the beginning and ending of each day.

Christ, the beginning and ending of each thought.

Christ, the beginning and ending of my being called into existence. 

Christ, the beginning and ending of my questions, doubts and fears.

Thursday in the Easter Octave ~ Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

THIS ANGEL IS FOUND on the facade of the Gothic Cathedral of Notre Dame, Reims in France which was completed in the year 1275. Over the seven centuries he has lost a wing, the end of his nose and the better part of his right arm. Still he smiles. Indeed, the angel is simply called, The Smiling Angel.

Alleluia is the joyful Easter word. It's been said that the word itself comes from the language the angels speak. Perhaps this smiling angel is thinking thoughts we're unable to think and which cause him a deep interior joy.

Maybe the angel is thinking about the Incarnation of God at Bethlehem and the Resurrection of Easter morning. Or the angel might be contemplating our eternal destiny and his knowledge of God's love for us in Christ, despite our capacity for hatred and self-destruction. 

We were given a window into the mind of God when Jesus told us God knows when a sparrow falls to the ground. Despite endless wars which bomb medieval cathedrals and schools and heap every kind of atrocity on people - still the angel smiles. The angel knows what God knows; Alleluia is the angel-word expressing that knowledge.

Alleluia also sounds like the sounds a baby makes. We call it babbling. And Jesus tells us to be like children, that is: allow yourself to be vulnerable, be an unquestioning and grateful receiver. But also, acknowledge before the great mystery of God's mother-like, self-sacrificing love for us, perhaps the best we can do is babble. The theology, the exquisite hymns and prayers - it's all just a holy stammering before the inexpressible things of God.

Intercessions ~ Sunday in the Easter Octave ~ Mercy

In the Easter time/ we ask for consoled and joyful hearts,/ faithful and hospitable hearts,/ merciful and pure hearts./ We pray to the Lord.

In the Easter time/ we pray for families around the world/ especially those stressed by war,/ poverty,/ divorce or illness./ We pray to the Lord.

As Popes John XXIII and John Paul II are canonized saints this weekend in Rome./ We ask to live our own unique lives/ as truthfully and as beautifully as Christ lived his./ We pray to the Lord.

We ask in the Easter time/ for leaders to be made authentic and strong in their work for peace./ We pray for Christians who are troubled and persecuted for their lives lived in Christ./ We pray to the Lord.

We continue to intercede for the nations of the world,/ praying today for the people of the Cook Islands,/ Costa Rica,/ Ivory Coast,/ Croatia,/ Cuba and Cyprus./ We pray as well for the consolation of those countries where there is great sorrow these days:/ South Korea,/ Nepal,/ Ukraine,/ Sudan,/ Syria and Venezuela./ We pray to the Lord.

In the Easter time we pray for those who are sick,/ physically,/ emotionally,/ spiritually or relationally./ We ask for the particular blessings which protect children/ and for healing and new depths of faith./ We pray to the Lord.

Finally we ask for those who have died/ in receiving the full mercy of God,/ to know the joy of life lived in the Risen Christ./ We pray to the Lord.

Wednesday of Bright Week ~ The Legend of the Dogwood

THE DOGWOOD GROWS in many parts of Europe, China and East Asia and throughout North America. Virginia and South Carolina claim it as their state flower. There is a legend about the dogwood perhaps originating in the Middle Ages when just about everything somehow pointed symbolically to the Mysteries of the Christian Faith. 

At the time of Jesus' Crucifixion the dogwood had been the size of the oak and other forest trees. So firm and strong was the tree that it was chosen as the timber for the cross. To be used this way for such a cruel purpose greatly distressed the tree.

In His gentle pity for all sorrow and suffering Jesus said to the tree: "Because of your regret and pity for my suffering, never again shall the dogwood tree grow large enough to be used as a cross. From now on it shall be slender and bent and twisted and its blossom shall be in the form of a cross - two long and two short petals. And in the center of the outer edge of each petal there will be nail prints, brown with rust and stained with red, and in the center of the flower will be a crown of thorns, and all who see it will remember."

I like that line, "...and all who see it will remember" especially in view of the mental clutter most of us suffer and the daily temptations to distraction and forgetfulness. 

It's noteworthy too that the dogwood has served medicinally as well over time. It has been used to curb the spread of malaria. Confederate soldiers made bark tea from the dogwood to cure colds and fevers and a leaf-paste to cover battle wounds. Of course, the remedy or medicine we need is a spiritual one. Praise Christ Risen in the Springtime!