Rise again, yes, you will rise again,
My dust, after brief rest!
Immortal life! Immortal life
Will He, who called you, grant you.
To bloom again, you were sown!
The Lord of the Harvest goes
And gathers like sheaves,
Us, who died.
O believe, my heart, believe:
Nothing will be lost to you!
Yours, yes, yours is what you longed for,
Yours what you loved,
What you fought for!
Gustav Mahler (Symphony 2 – Resurrection)
I ran across a blog post by someone I’d never met, nor had I
read his work. The link came to me via a
friend and, after reading what
John Pletcher wrote in reaction to seeing “Beauty and the Beast” I was
prompted to write about our Great Hope.
Given we are past the mid-point in Lent, I thought it was
appropriate. I won’t be able to link
this out on my own social networks until after Easter, but I wanted to write
while the thoughts were still fresh in my mind.
Thank you, John, for the e-mail exchange and encouragement.
The poem above represents the sum total of choral lyrics for
Mahler’s 2nd Symphony. I had
the privilege of participating once and the memory has stuck with me. I won’t comment or cast any suspicions on
Mahler’s intent, but I will say his words and the timing during the symphony
provide a truly dynamic experience. You
see, the choir sits silent on stage for about the first 100 minutes (no
intermission for the piece). Then, in
very low tones, and usually in German, the lyrics resonate the with the sheer
anticipation of a resurrection. As I
read John Pletcher’s piece, recalled the Mahler and reflected on the book I’m
teaching from (Keller’s “Encounters with Jesus”), the hope of resurrection
swelled within me.
It truly is a “tale as old as time” … in fact, The Story
pre-dates time. It’s an eternal theme
that culminates in resurrection and a complete restoration (at least, that’s
how I read the end of Revelation). We
are invited to be swept up in the words of the Rabbi who tells Martha and Mary,
“I AM the Resurrection”. This is what he
demonstrates to Mary Magdalene when he gently speaks her name, inviting her to
believe that he has indeed resurrected.
And it’s all juxtaposed against the crucial angst he felt as he, quite
literally, begged the Father to find another way.
Yet, and if the Lenten season reminds us of nothing else it
should remind us of this, he completed what we could not do for ourselves. He resurrected so that we can have a part in
the resurrection ourselves. We can’t
earn it or finagle it in any way. We
bring zero – we’re completely dead. He
breathes Life into us so we can sing, as we travel the Crooked Path, “Rise
again, yes, rise again!” That’s where
the path is leading for all those who will but travel it willingly.
