Sunday, March 13, 2011

On the 4th day of Easter, my true love gave to me...


This year in preparation for Easter, Mary and I are going through a devotional recommended to me from a professor I look up to most at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. It is called "Reliving the Passion" by Walter Wangerin Jr. We are four days into the 40 day journey to resurrection Sunday. Each day's devotion is a short and concise (2-3 pages) reflection on a passage from the gospel of Mark, drawing us in to experience anew Christ's passion in his suffering and death and to live in the reality of His resurrection. Mary and I have deeply appreciated Wangerin's ability to relive this all-so-familiar story of Easter in such fresh reflection. He writes in the Preface, "It is my intent that [the meditations of this book] should lead a reader step by step to an Easter celebration, walking with Jesus both in thought (learning along the way) and in a genuine feeling (experiencing The Way--experiencing the love of the Lord in his passion)."

If you are like Mary and I, the season of Lent has been an unfamiliar and mysterious observance. Maybe like us, your obesrvance of Christ's passion has been limited to Good Friday and Easter Sunday. This devotional may be a great resourse for you as well to engage in a powerful tradition that goes back to the fifth century of the church... reflecting on the passion of Christ in the 40 days leading to up to ressurrection Sunday.

Mary and I highly recommend this devotional, and it's not too late to join us in this journey of experiencing Christ's passion this Easter season.

No comments:

Post a Comment