“Love Is Stronger Than Death”
This phrase is written on a memorial marker at Christchurch Cathedral in Oxford. I wasn’t able to write much over the Easter season due to travel and adventures. For me, it was a time of living stories rather than writing about them. It’s never too late to ponder on the greatest sacrifice of all time. Jesus’ death and resurrection… it’s a timeless love story.
The Lenten practice is relatively new for me. The denomination I grew up in didn’t talk about it or acknowledge it really. I only knew that this was something other denominations practiced and my questionings were typically met with “we don’t agree with them”. I’m not belittling my denomination and it is nice to see them coming around. Back in the day, though, I wasn’t taught that there was any margin for consideration or attempts to understand or explain this liturgical practice of focusing on the impending death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was simply what others do.
Hints of spring arrive in England escorting fresh air and percolating the potential of life. Neighbors scurry about pruning their unattended gardens wrecked by winter’s slush. These days, the birds chirp a little louder and the sky seems a little bluer. The sun is beginning to stay awake longer making it possible for what was once hidden by winter’s protection to miraculously sprout in spring.
Empty Plate . Full Heart 