Welcome to the meditation.
As I record this,
Easter is coming up in a few weeks.
Easter is a Christian holiday,
Although it also has huge cultural touch points and is celebrated pretty widely at least in the United States.
However in the church it is a celebration primarily of the day when Jesus rose from the dead.
For today's meditation we will focus on this idea of resurrection.
Whether you believe that Jesus was a real person or not,
Believe that Jesus literally came back to life after being dead or not,
This idea of resurrection is a universal pattern.
The Easter holiday occurs in the springtime which is a season when we see a resurrection of sorts.
In our Easter celebrations we see symbols of new life and fertility too,
With eggs and rabbits.
Resurrection and renewal are a part of a universal pattern that we can observe.
Some call it the seasons,
The circle of life,
But we see death and rebirth over and over again.
We see trees losing their leaves in the autumn and then they seem to die throughout the winter,
Only to again see buds,
Flowers,
And new leaves in the spring.
So every year with the seasons we get to witness this cycle.
I personally believe in an embodied spirituality.
I believe that the divine is found within the physical world and that the divine incarnates within humanity.
So with this view we can look at the death and resurrection of Jesus as a revelation of a divine pattern that is repeated all of the time,
Although sometimes it can be hard to recognize it without hindsight.
We have lots of words that we use to describe this pattern of new life emerging from a situation that felt like death.
We use words like regeneration,
Healing,
And forgiveness.
In my own life my husband and I spent years restoring our 100 year old home and that felt like a practice in resurrection,
Bringing new life to this old house that had been neglected for years.
In the Bible there are four different accounts of the life and activities of Jesus and his followers and then also his death and resurrection.
These books are known as the Gospels and they are Matthew,
Mark,
Luke,
And John.
In all of them there is a woman named Mary Magdalene who is one of Jesus closest friends and disciples.
In all four of the accounts she is shown to be faithfully present throughout the crucifixion of Jesus and his burial as well as after his resurrection.
So in these ancient times people who had the means were buried in a cave and a large stone was rolled in front of the entrance to seal the cave.
In this meditation we will focus on an account from the book of Matthew.
Mary Magdalene is described as being present both when the stone was rolled to seal it and also when the stone was rolled away after the resurrection of Jesus.
And then in a different account she's also shown walking up to an already open tomb.
I'll read a short passage from Matthew 27 and 28 and we'll enter into the scene in our imagination and engage in a practice of letting resurrection come as it will.
So let's center in just letting go of anything that we are bringing into the meditation.
Any worries from the day,
Any to-do lists,
Distractions.
If you're feeling discomfort in your physical body or uncomfortable emotions acknowledge them and give them some space.
If you need to you can take an audible sigh or exhale letting go of any emotions or stress.
Take in any external distractions,
Any noises and acknowledge them.
And then when you're ready starting to consciously turn inward.
Beyond the physical,
Beyond the emotional,
Tapping into our inner sanctuary.
No need to manipulate the breath in any way.
Simply starting to focus on the breath starts to change the quality of our breath.
Maybe your breath does start to deepen.
I'll read now from the passage in Matthew.
Late in the afternoon after Jesus died a wealthy man from Arimathea,
A disciple of Jesus arrived.
His name was Joseph.
He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus's body.
Pilate granted his request.
Joseph took the body and wrapped it in clean linens,
Put it in his own tomb,
A new tomb only recently cut into the rock and rolled a large stone across the entrance and then he went off.
But Mary Magdalene stayed sitting in plain view of the tomb.
After the Sabbath as the first light of the new week dawned,
Mary Magdalene came to keep vigil at the tomb.
Suddenly the earth reeled and rocked under their feet as God's angel came down from heaven,
Came right up to where she was standing.
The angel rolled back the stone and then sat on it.
Picture yourself as Mary Magdalene sitting outside of the tomb.
As you start to construct the scene in your head,
What time of day is it?
What is the weather like?
Where are you sitting?
How does the air feel on your skin?
What sounds do you notice?
Allow yourself to fully enter the scene and let your imagination fill in the details.
When you're ready,
Turn your attention to the tomb.
Do you imagine the tomb sealed with the stone or do you picture an open tomb with the stone rolled to the side?
Let your mind choose to focus on the image of a sealed or an open tomb.
If the tomb is sealed,
In what places in your life are you still waiting for resurrection?
Maybe your life right now doesn't feel like a celebratory triumphant Easter Sunday.
Maybe you still feel stuck in the in-between of Saturday,
Still waiting for new life to show up.
That's okay.
Sit with that.
If you picture an open tomb,
Reflect on ways that you've seen resurrection in your life.
Reflect on the healing you've experienced,
Forgiveness,
Relationships restored.
Where can you see this universal pattern in the world?
And you can also choose to spend time in gratitude for the ways in which you have seen resurrection in your life.
Wherever you are,
I'll leave you here for several moments and then I will end the meditation.
Continue on for as long as you need and any time that your mind starts to wander,
You can bring it back to the image of the tomb,
Whether closed or open.
If you'd like to work with a breath prayer,
You can inhale and say,
Love is stronger than death.
And as you exhale,
You'll say,
Unto that love you have returned.
You you you you
