In the embrace of the crucified

"For worshippers of a crucified Lord, embracing God requires embracing innocent suffering: the child dying on Peed Onk, the Alzheimer patient abandoned by his adult children, the Sudanese mother unable to feed her family. A visible reminder of this Christian reality can be found in the cathedral in Wurzburg, Germany, where a large crucifix stands in a recessed arch to the side of the nave. The battered body of Christ has gaunt, Gothic features, his eyes fixed upon the viewer, his hands, pulled from the arms of the cross, extended outward in a gesture of embrace, inviting the viewer to enter. In pulling his arms from the arms of the cross, however, this carved Jesus still carries the spikes that nailed him there, embedded in his hands. There is no way to enter that embrace without feeling the iron instruments of Jesus' torture. The loving embrace of God in the flesh necessarily involves entering the pain of that flesh. for Christians, this is how we become what God intends us to be." Shuman & Volck, "Reclaiming the Body", p45.

Easter Saturday... death

I have no intention of posting every day on this blog, but the first three days are pretty important - yesterday's post, made on Good Friday, was really all about the cross... Today is Easter Saturday - the in-the-middle, nothing-happening, still-in-the-tomb day.

My favourite song about death is "Letter to Alan" which appeared on Cold Chisel's best album "Circus Animals"... the song is about - no - here it is (the beginning, anyway):
When it's time for your reflection,
As you wait till help arrives,
See our good friend's face on the dashboard,
And you know you cannot leave that cab alive...
Do you know I'd reach for you, from later times?
Once I knew... now I'm walking in the dark.
Like bells, our dogs are yelling all across Centenial Park,
And the Sunday morning light just sends me blind,
And I'm only feeling useless, cause there's nothing I can blame:
Every person, thing, and circumstance, that moves this perfect day,
you've left behind.

There is something a bit stupidly incongruous about a fine-weathered Easter Saturday - why have the earthquakes stopped? "Gold's in the sky, and in my blue eyes - you know it feels unfair: there's magic everywhere".... stupid weather.
But, looking outside, we are having our first proper icy snowfall of the year.... hmm - not always stupid, perhaps