Imagine for a moment a...
Illustration
Imagine for a moment a child who has just received one of life's most splendid gifts -- the gift of being able to hold a pencil. As chubby fingers press tightly about the yellow shaft of wood, the child glances up at a parent. "That's right!" the parent says. Intently, the young one looks downward again, and, pressing with all the might in the world, marks out a black and jagged line. Child and parent laugh in the presence of the gift.
Only as the years go by, though, will applications of this gift become plain. The hand marking out that jagged line will one day, stretching the gift, play games of tic-tac-toe, sketch pictures, and solve problems on a board. From the gift will come compositions, signed checks, lists of things to be done, and letters expressing the deepest love. And will this gift one day design a house? or compose a song? or write a poem? A child and parent stare with joy at the hand, the pencil, and the mark which they have made, but the real unfolding of the gift has just begun.
The Resurrection gift begins in a flash of joy. "Rabboni!" And we speak the words ourselves, "He is risen. He is risen indeed!" Yet only with as we carry the gift through time will the fullness of it all come clear. Only as we apply it to all the places of our lives will the Resurrection's limitless meaning unfold.
Only as the years go by, though, will applications of this gift become plain. The hand marking out that jagged line will one day, stretching the gift, play games of tic-tac-toe, sketch pictures, and solve problems on a board. From the gift will come compositions, signed checks, lists of things to be done, and letters expressing the deepest love. And will this gift one day design a house? or compose a song? or write a poem? A child and parent stare with joy at the hand, the pencil, and the mark which they have made, but the real unfolding of the gift has just begun.
The Resurrection gift begins in a flash of joy. "Rabboni!" And we speak the words ourselves, "He is risen. He is risen indeed!" Yet only with as we carry the gift through time will the fullness of it all come clear. Only as we apply it to all the places of our lives will the Resurrection's limitless meaning unfold.
