Recently, in an article in the Huffington Post, Otto Scharmer, an economist from MIT asked the provocative question, “Are we ready to rise?” I wonder if this is the real question of these Holy Week rituals we celebrate in the Christian tradition. Another way to say it might be, “Are we willing to rise?”
What is the face of resurrection today?
What does it actually look like?
- Each year in Rwanda there is a three month remembrance of the genocide that saw the death of 1,000,000 people. Each year a group of Sisters and other professionals devote themselves to the role of Listener. They listen to the pain of those whose relatives were killed. They listen to the pain of those who murdered their brothers and sisters of Rwanda. Their hope is to slowly, over generations, knit together again the fabric of their society. There is no quick fix. There is only the love that bears the stories of pain in the hope of healing. This is what resurrection looks like.
- Discovering within myself that my capacity to love is larger than I might have imagined. It stretches way beyond the limits of what I have thought. This is what resurrection looks like.
- Seeing in myself and others both a willingness and a passion to move beyond the boundaries of we\they to see the reality of “us.” This is what resurrection looks like.
- Noticing and being moved by the small kindness of another and knowing that our lives depend on these kindnesses. This is what resurrection looks like.
- Rising with others to make love real and practical. This is what resurrection looks like.
- Wanting to change so that our planet home can flourish. This is what resurrection looks like.
What does resurrection look like to you? Are you willing to rise?
Margo Ritchie, CSJ