Some words cut through time's folded fabric like a warm knife through microwaved butter: I have a dream... Four score and seven years ago... A day that shall live in infamy... Et tu, Brute?I remember my high school physics teacher saying that every word every spoken on earth is still sound-waving around the universe. And if we knew where and how to tune in, we could hear them all. I don't know if that is technically true or not, but the thought is a little awesome.
What I do know is that some words carry weight, a power and authority, that reverberates. Among the most powerful words ever spoken were those spoken in a nearly empty place, by a stone-roller (not to be confused with... never mind).
Angels perched on top of massive grave-stone blockades demand one's attention. The words the angel spoke, sliced eternity.
HE IS NOT HERE,
HE HAS RISEN!
Apparently angels really like saying this. The gospel accounts of the resurrection indicate it was proclaimed at least a few times. My guess is that He ain't* in that hole in the ground... He is risen! was shouted around the halls and hills of heaven repeatedly. It probably still is.
These aren't just pleasant religious words. If true, they cannot be ignored - they change the game. My goal in this very short post is not to prove or disprove the angels' words (or that there are such thing as stone-rolling angels). Though my mind is a skeptical one, this truth is one I chose a long time ago. And it is one I choose every day - often through struggle.
HE IS NOT HERE, HE IS RISEN... fills me with hope.
HE IS NOT HERE, HE IS RISEN... challenges me.
HE IS NOT HERE, HE IS RISEN... provides peace.
HE IS NOT HERE, HE IS RISEN... changes everything!
In the early church, one would stand before the group and proclaim, "He is risen." To which the congregation responded, "He is risen indeed."
And angels said, "You got that right!"
For now...
D
*Okie Angels
