Both/And: 5 April 2009

Dear Friends,

It pretty much goes without saying, this week in the Christian liturgical calendar marks Holy Week – the week where, beginning with Palm (or Passion) Sunday, we focus on the events surrounding the death of Jesus. We read and hear about the last supper with his disciples, the anointing of his feet, his washing the feet of his disciples as an example of servant leadership, his agony in the garden, his betrayal by Judas, his arrest, his “trial”, his condemnation, his journey to Golgotha, and his death by crucifixion. Through all this we are so intimately focused on the cross; on Jesus’ death. And we may have been told that we attain salvation through Jesus’ death. Now, I am not denying this, yet I wonder… I wonder if there's more...

Our early Christian ancestors focused most on Jesus’ life and healing ministry and teachings rather than on his death or the cross…until the fourth century…until Constantine. Legend has it Constantine, before invading Italy, saw a blazing cross in the sky with the words “in this sign you will be the victor” and he literally took that as confirmation of impending victory. Constantine did conquer Italy, the final territory of his vast Western empire. Thus, because of Constantine, began Christianity’s love affair with the cross even to the point of another legend that has Constantine’s mother claiming to find the actual crucifixion cross, even to the point of the dark times of Christianity during the brutal and murderous crusades.

I wonder… Is it possible the earliest, pre-Constantine Christians knew and lived something we may have forgotten or perhaps dismiss particularly during this final week of Lent? Could it be in their remembering at table, the telling of the stories of Jesus’ life and works and in the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the cup, in their house churches the salvation offered to all focused intimately on the unconditionally loving act of God breaking into the world in human form and the compassionate, inclusive ways Jesus was present throughout his life? Could it be that throughout the ages we have been taught more about the “value” of suffering and death than of joy life and love?

All this is not an either/or proposition. No, it’s a both/and. Suffering and death have much to teach us. To watch someone suffer and/or die, or to be the one suffering, can teach us how to do so with dignity and grace. It can teach us about helplessness and that there are times in life when we are not in control. It can also teach us how to become compassionate care givers and grateful care receivers. It can teach us about empathy and being present and holy silence and spiritual healing. It can teach us about having faith - that even if or when no one is there we are not alone, for the Sacred One is our constant companion. It can teach us about what really matters. It can teach us about life – our own, others’ and all created life. It can teach us about love and the deep and constant love of the One who loved us first - the One who broke into the world to live among us in human form, the One who dwells with us intimately woven in the very fabric of our lives. And yet, these are not only the lessons of suffering or of death...these are also lessons of life and love. Both/And.

Peace on the Journey