The beginning of a journey, not the end

"But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared."
Luke 24:1

 The sun comes up, again, on a garden. This was where our journey began- in a perfect garden, where God walked in the evening breeze. So much has happened to the human beings that God created- their journey has taken them far away from that garden, and by Friday it seemed that they had put to death their only hope of walking in the garden again.

But today, in a garden of tombs, God walks again.

"But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping?' She said to them, 'They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.'
When she said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?' Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, 'Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.'
Jesus said to her, 'Mary!'
She turned and said to him in Hebrew, 'Rabbouni!' (which means Teacher).
Jesus said to her, 'Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, "I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." '
Mary Magdelene went and announced to the disciples, 'I have seen the Lord.'  "
John 20:11-18

 Today, as we celebrate Easter Sunday, may we meet the risen Jesus. May we hear him call us by name, and see him hold out his hand inviting us to travel with him on the great journey of life.

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