Well, if you have been following this blog since we began our most recent walk through the scriptures, you are probably expecting to read something about Jesus’s resurrection from the dead.
After all, that is where we are in the cycle of readings – the Gospel of Mark, chapter 16, the resurrection of Jesus.
But….not yet….
You see, it’s still Lent. It’s too early to talk about the empty tomb. All in good time , but not yet.
I don’t stop us – mid-cycle as it were – because I want to. I would like to jump ahead to Easter morning. I like the glorious images of angels announcing the good news.
Yet it is too important to jump there too quickly.
We need to pause, pray, be willing to spend some time in the Upper Room, the dark garden, the kangaroo court over which Pilate presided. We need to watch the sky darken over the cross, hear the women – and the men – weep, at the foot of the cross.
Only then can we fully appreciate the glorious morning when it finally, finally dawns.
So, we are going to pause. I will continue to bring daily posts. But not about the resurrection. Not yet. Don’t worry – it’s worth waiting for.
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By Paul Simrell
The Reverend Paul W. Simrell has served for over thirty years in a variety of congregational and institutional settings. He is a recognized minister with standing in the Virginia region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada and is nationally endorsed by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for specialized ministry in both pastoral counseling and chaplaincy. Ordained in 1982, he has served congregations in Kentucky, Texas, Florida, and Virginia. He currently serves as the pastor of Elpis Christian Church, a small, historic congregation located just a few miles west of Richmond, Virginia. Elpis is the Greek word meaning “expectant hope.” He also serves on the associate clinical staff of the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care, Richmond, Virginia, both as a pastoral counselor and a ministerial assessment specialist, specializing in executive, clergy and relationship coaching. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and Lexington Theological Seminary and has done advanced clinical training in chaplaincy and pastoral counseling at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, Children’s Medical Center and Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas and the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care in Richmond, Virginia. He is a Certified Pastoral Counselor, an ACPE Practitioner, and a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors. He is a Certified Facilitator of the Prepare-Enrich relationship assessment and skills-building program and served as a volunteer chaplain for over twenty years with the CJW Medical Center campuses in Richmond, Virginia. His avocational interests include playing the piano and drawing. He is very happily married to his wife Elizabeth Yeamans Simrell, a free-lance writer, who is also a Certified Facilitator for the Prepare-Enrich program.
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
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IGW3 - In God's Word, In God's Will, In God's Work 