{"id":1621,"date":"2017-04-13T09:39:48","date_gmt":"2017-04-13T14:39:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/henrykarlson\/?p=1621"},"modified":"2017-04-13T09:39:48","modified_gmt":"2017-04-13T14:39:48","slug":"paschal-reflection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/henrykarlson\/2017\/04\/paschal-reflection\/","title":{"rendered":"Paschal Reflection"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"God<\/a>
God as Architect\/Builder\/Geometer\/Craftsman, The Frontispiece of Bible Moralisee by Anonymous (archiv.onb.ac.at), via Wikimedia Commons [Public domain]<\/figcaption><\/figure>God, the Father through the Son and with the Holy Spirit, created the universe and all that was in it. God established the boundaries, that is, the natures of those things which he created. How? By the Word, by the Logos; they found themselves to be logoi <\/em>reflecting the one Logos of God:<\/p>\n

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God;\u00a0 all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made (Jn. 1:1-3 RSV).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Insofar as all things remained true to themselves, true to their nature, they can be seen as reflections of the Logos. To do this, they had to remain open to God, to the Spirit of God, so that their existence can be preserved. For all contingent beings, without the power of grace, will degrade over time, and become less than what they were called to be by nature. Those who choose to close in on themselves and their own limited glory close themselves off from the Spirit of God, and the glory which the Spirit is willing to give them. They law of contingency takes effect and so they lose much of the goodness given onto them by their nature, becoming as it were, less than themselves over time, indeed, less than natural because they do not keep to their natural purity.<\/p>\n

It can seem ironic that those who try to hold on to themselves lose themselves and become less than themselves.\u00a0 The reason why this is so is rather simple. Contingent beings are not the source of their own being.\u00a0 When they close themselves off from the source of being, the effects of that closure quickly manifests itself in the degradation of their own being. There are many ways this law has been described, from the law of karma, to the law of entropy, or in Christian spirituality, the law of death.<\/p>\n

Closed off from God, we find ourselves the walking dead. That which gives vitality to our being, that which preserves us and lifts us up is denied by us, so that though we live on, we do not live on in fullness.\u00a0 We have the remnants of life, the remnants of our good nature, and this allows us to continue on, but we are closed off from the true life and from the vision of God and the beatitude which comes from that vision. We stumble around, eating and feeding on the rest of the world, using such nourishment to help replenish our bodily needs so that we can continue on in our living death, constantly fighting against death through the use of death, through the destruction of others who we then feed upon. We use the remnants of their life to add to our own and give us just a little more grasp at life.<\/p>\n

As the walking dead, we find ourselves stumbling about, neither truly alive, nor completely dead. Our natural abilities are diminished. We are not entirely mindless and senseless, just as we are not yet completely dead: we are just mostly dead. With the remnants of our being left, we see and experience a little of the light of life and encounter it; if we open up to it and allow it to enter us, we will find it slowly giving us more of the true life, lifting us beyond the law of death. But the problem is we often close ourselves from it, afraid of the light, and so blind ourselves through the fortification of our living death as we sin, hindering our ability to perceive and embrace that light in our life. For this reason, it comes to us in a form which we can more readily interact with, as the Logos becomes man and engages us face to face. Those who welcome him therefore are given the light of life, the spiritual healing which brings them back to life and allows them to become children of the most high:<\/p>\n

He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God (Jn. 1:11-13 RSV).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The fullness of God, the fullness of Being, has become man. Despite closed off from him in our state of living death, we see shown the brightness of the true life. Through it, we can examine ourselves, see what we have made for ourselves apart from it. Hopefully we will recognize the nothingness of being which we have in ourselves, which we have placed in ourselves, for then we will be that much more willing to open ourselves up and let his fullness of being fill us up with grace upon grace: \u201cAnd from his fulness have we all received, grace upon grace\u201d (Jn. 1:16 RSV).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The author of life, the Word himself, has come to us, and has taken up our nature upon himself. He possessed life itself. Those who recognize their thirst for it can ask him for the water of life and receive it, finding that by partaking of it, fills them up and transforms them so that instead of being among the walking dead they become living saints.\u00a0 Yet, because of who and what we have become, as undead who feed upon the life of others in order to survive, as the undead which kills the others so that through their death we can find limited life, the Lord and Creator has become our savior and offers himself as food for our life:<\/p>\n

Jesus then said to them, \u201cTruly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

They said to him, \u201cLord, give us this bread always.\u201d Jesus said to them, \u201cI am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst\u201d (Jn. 6: 32 \u2013 35 RSV).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While we seek life from the dead so the Word of Life comes to us from the realm of the dead, offering himself in his death as food. \u00a0Through him we can have eternal life. Through his death our death has been conquered, because through his death he gives the bounty of life itself to all who shall eat of him and receive his infinite life unto themselves.<\/p>\n

\"Resurrection<\/a>
Resurrection icon by Bulgarian painter, (Icon Painter), Unknown (fourth quarter of 17th century) (Web Gallery of Art: Image Info about artwork) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>We, in the grave of death, having lost the life which natures our being, therefore find in the death of Christ, the conquering of our death as he grants us life, his life; and since he is the author of life, full of life, even death is unable to hold him as he rose victoriously from the dead. Thus, we sing with joy:<\/p>\n

Christ is risen from the dead, by death he conquered death and to those in the graves he granted life.<\/em><\/p>\n

Christ is risen. The author of life has overcome death and is alive forevermore. He took on the human condition, and allowed the walking dead to come upon him in their rampage, to take his life. He opened himself up to become food for all, to nourish all through his life, so that they can be taken out of their walking death and into the spiritual life. By death he conquered our death, for he has overcome the law of death with his bountiful life, a life which transcends the power of death:<\/p>\n

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: \u201cDeath is swallowed up in victory.\u201d O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?\u201d The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:54-6 RSV).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The resurrection of Christ from the dead is the final proof of his bountiful life; death could not hold him, death had no sting which could overcome him. He was, in his loving humility, willing to go to the edge of being itself and give himself completely to the world, to give his life to all, so that all can receive him and the life which is in him. But his life, his power, was not exhausted; he went to the edge of being and his life thrived; he rose from the dead, the author of life, bringing the restoration of being in himself. He is risen. If we open ourselves to him and partake of him, filling ourselves with his life, we will find restorative grace effective in us, recreating us in him, so that we shall follow him beyond the grave and into eternal life.<\/p>\n

Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered; let those who hate Him flee from before His face. \u00a0As smoke vanishes, so let them vanish; as wax melts before the fire. So the sinners will perish before the face of God; but let the righteous be glad. This is the day which the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.<\/em> [1]<\/strong><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sin covers us like a death mask. As the fire of life comes upon us, all that is sin melts away and perishes in the grace of God\u2019s love, the love which shines bright as God arises during the Paschal feast. If we open ourselves up to this life, the last remnants of death can be purged from us, and we will find ourselves in that eternal eschatological day rejoicing and being glad in it. Let us therefore open ourselves up, take Christ into us, and receive the food of life, rejoicing in the bounty of life revealed in the resurrection of Christ.<\/p>\n

Christ is risen from the dead, by death he conquered death and to those in the graves he granted life.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> These are the refrains used in the procession of the faithful for their Paschal procession around their church before entering in the front doors and celebrating the Paschal service.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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A Little Bit of Nothing<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

God, the Father through the Son and with the Holy Spirit, created the universe and all that was in it. God established the boundaries, that is, the natures of those things which he created. How? 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