"Present Risenness"
Christ the Lord is Risen Today
Hallelujah!
I have that hymn in my head this morning; although it feels kind of silly because that’s the only line I can remember. Nevertheless, my spirit is rejoicing because it is Easter. It is the day Jesus conquered death and rose to live again. It is the day of promise for our lives. It is the day of hope.
I remember my mom dressing me up in flowery dresses with buttons and bows on Easter morning when I was little. Part of me liked getting dressed up, but the other part hated the white tights and perfect hair. Today, I am sitting in blue jeans and a “nice” shirt and I feel more joyful than I ever did when I was dolled up. I know that Christ has saved me. Christ has forgiven me. I have hope of eternal life because of Christ. I have hope that this life will be rich because the risen Christ is a part of it.
Yesterday I read a chapter in Brennan Manning’s book Abba’s Child called “Present Risenness.” The following quote stirred my soul with joy:
All day and every day we are being reshaped into the image of Christ. Everything that happens to us is designed to this end. Nothing that exists can exist beyond the pale of His presence… nothing is irrelevant to it, nothing is without significance in it.
Everything that is comes alive in the risen Christ… Everything – great, small, important, unimportant, distant, and near – has its place, its meaning, and its value… There is never a moment that does not carry eternal significance – no action that is sterile, no love that lacks fruition, and no prayer that is unheard…
The awareness of present risenness effects the integration of intuition and will, emotion and reason. Less preoccupied with appearances, we are less inclined to change costumes to win approval with each shift of company and circumstance… Now circumstances feed us, not we them; we use them, not they us. (pp. 110-111)
Oh to live each day knowing that it is significant. To live knowing that my life matters to God. To live knowing that each circumstance exists in order to better my life. To live with hope of abundant life. To find joy in every moment. To be consistently at peace with God and with the world. To be able to be myself at all times, with all people, in all circumstances. That is how I desire to live. That is what it means to live in the knowledge that “Christ the Lord is risen today!”
Our joy is complete.
Hallelujah!
posted by Leah @ 10:54 AM
1 Comments:
I was just copying a different passage from the same book and my spell checker didn’t like the word “Risenness” so I Googled it and found your blog. God bless you. It really helped to know, in this moment, that I’m not alone.
Here is the passage I was writing:
How does the life-giving spirit of the risen Lord manifest Himself on days like these? In our willingness to stand fast, our refusal to run away and escape into self-destructive behavior. Resurrection power enables us to engage in the savage confrontation with untamed emotions, to accept pain, receive it, take it on board, however acute it may be. And in the process we discover we are not alone, that we can stand fast in the awareness of present risenness and so become fuller, richer, deeper disciples. We know ourselves to be more than we previously imagined. In the process we not only endure but we are forced to expand the boundaries of who we really think we are. (p.105)
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