Hello my friends,
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood monk in docks,
Welcoming you to day 40 of our Lenten journey in the wilderness still held,
As we walk the path of John's Gospel through Lent to Easter.
As always,
We begin just by settling ourselves,
Taking a deep breath in and out,
Allowing our mind,
Our body and our heart all to arrive in this space,
Nothing that we need to achieve,
Just to be.
Let the quiet hold you today.
And we continue with Mary Magdalene outside the tomb in John chapter 20,
Still early in the morning,
The long darkness of grief still hanging in the air,
And there she stands,
Weeping.
And the story we've walked through these past days has been really heavy,
Loss,
Confusion,
Waiting.
And Mary,
As we saw yesterday,
Has come to the tomb expecting only one thing,
Simply to mourn.
Even when she sees the stone rolled away,
Even when the angel speaks to her,
Her heart is still wrapped in sorrow.
She turns and sees a man standing nearby.
She doesn't recognise him,
She thinks that this is a gardener.
Which,
In a way,
Is not entirely wrong.
The risen Christ often appears in forms that we don't expect.
In moments when our eyes are still clouded by grief,
In ordinary places,
In voices we almost overlook.
Sometimes Christ is there,
And when we recognise Christ there,
It really is surprising.
And Mary,
Still without any recognition,
Speaks to him through her tears and says,
Sir,
If you've carried him away,
Tell me where you've laid him.
And then something absolutely beautiful and powerful happens.
Jesus says just one word.
Her name.
Mary.
Just her name.
And suddenly,
Everything changes.
Recognition happens,
But it hasn't come about because of analysis or explanation or theological arguments or anything like that.
Mary hasn't been presented with proof per se,
But relationship.
Mary.
Love recognises love,
And love hears its own name.
Let's just take a moment to sit with that.
Allow the story to settle in your awareness,
And notice that resurrection isn't first recognised intellectually.
It's recognised through relationship.
The voice of the risen Christ is the voice that knows us.
The voice that calls us.
The voice that speaks our name.
In our lives,
We often stand where Mary stood.
Moments when something's ended.
Moments when hope seems buried.
Moments when we're still standing in the quiet aftermath of loss.
And yet somehow,
Gently,
Life begins to move again.
And often we don't recognise it at first,
We mistake it for something ordinary.
Like a gardener in the early morning light.
Transformation frequently becomes visible only after grief has softened the heart,
After the wilderness has done its quiet work within us.
The wilderness changes how we see.
It teaches us to recognise God in unexpected ways,
Unexpected forms,
Subtle moments,
And quiet early mornings.
So I wonder,
Where might life be returning for you in quiet ways,
Gentle ways,
Unexpected ways?
Perhaps something small,
A shift in perspective,
A new tenderness in your heart.
Just notice what comes up.
And now another question.
What name does God speak over you?
Forget about the labels that everybody else gives you,
And the names that are shaped by success,
Or even the names that are shaped by failure.
But the deeper name,
The name spoken by love,
The name known by the one who formed you.
Just listen inwardly.
Imagine the voice of Christ speaking your name with kindness.
With recognition.
With deep familiarity,
And let yourself receive that.
One more question to rest with.
Can you allow hope to gently rise?
Not out of pressure,
Or a forced optimism,
But just like that slow light of morning.
Almost unnoticed at first,
Just a small stirring of life,
Like a garden beginning to wake.
Allow the possibility that the risen Christ may already be nearer than you realise,
Perhaps even speaking your name.
And as you rise from this time,
And go into the day,
Carry the awareness with you that the voice that calls your name is the voice of resurrection.
And that love,
Always,
Always,
Recognises love.
And may the grace and love of God go with you into this day,
And the one after,
And the one after that.
Until tomorrow my friend,
Peace be with you.
You
