Open and Clear - Forever!!

"The crucified Christ reminds us that despair and disillusionment are not terminal but signs of impending resurrection.  What lives beyond the cross is the liberating power of love, freeing us from the ego centerdness that says, 'All I am is what I think I am and nothing more.'"  - Brennan Manning

Nothing quite captures the essence of Easter as much as Christians saying to each other, "Christ is risen!" with the echoed reply, "He is risen indeed!"  All that despair and disillusionment Manning mentions does indeed become temporal rather than terminal.  The death we so wept and despaired over was necessary, but it was not the end.  It was only a necessary second hinge on which the Door must be hung so it could open once and for all.

The Crooked Path only paused at the Cross - it now marches boldly and confidently through the open, empty tomb and embraces a Savior who has conquered Death and left it to languish in its own misery.  Our Divine Brother did this for us, his mortal brothers and sisters, so that our Father could give us his heart all over again - because redemption has been on his mind from the start.

So rejoice, my friends!  Take heart in the message the angel spoke (recorded for us in Luke 24 as presented in The Message):

Then, out of nowhere, it seemed, two men, light cascading over them, stood there.  The women were awestruck and bowed down in worship.  The mean said, "Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery?  He is not here, but raised up."