Some Thoughts on Cross and Resurrection in the Christian Life

In the triumph of Jesus through the resurrection, the cross must not be forgotten, nor the way of the cross, for the way of glory is through the cross. Hence, the suffering character of existence must not be forgotten, glossed over, or sentimentalized.

At the same time, in the ever-constant recollection of the cross, the resurrection must not be forgotten. In Jesus, the way of the cross is to glory.

In this life then, faithful to Jesus, participating in Jesus, we know cross and resurrection, suffering and glory, not as an endless cycle, not as an endless dualism, not even as a dialectic; but as a difficult and wondrous journey to that restoration and renewal which are not ours, which include but do not center on us, and where our weary and striving hearts rest and repair, finally.

Dynamic Poise

I keep coming to the idea of what I term "dynamic poise."

The notion is fundamentally existential. It has to do with living the Christian life in this existence that we know. It has to do with being in the place God desires for us. It involves tensions or paradoxes such as faithfulness and effectiveness, the passion of conviction in what we believe and an equal humility in that passion, condemnation and affirmation in Christ, and being called to the utmost standard of perfection and being graced with the widest extension of mercy.

Dynamic poise does not promise resolution in this life, especially in a logical or rational sense, nor in an emotional sense. God's fundamental relation to us is existential or personal, not rational. Hence, God desires us to live in relation to him, not merely in agreement; and God desires us to live then in the world as people in relation to him. That kind of godly living requires seeking and living out - indeed, receiving from him - a dynamic poise.

Drought and Rain

Long drought, followed by long rain –

Parched beyond hope, drenched beyond sense.

Until we die, until the endless, endless garden of your presence,

Grant us balance, rhythm – days and dreams in metered loss and gain.

In the Ivory Morning

In the ivory morning a fluent breeze

plays the green leaves, tremulous

beneath the cool touch, pianissimo.

Like the last blue note of a prelude

delicately fading as the ear strains,

a thin moon hangs in the breaking sky.

Applaud the fragile arrangement,

the world's measured movement—

exquisite, aching, as the end of music.