I am supposed to be marking exam papers and preparing for tomorrow, but have been looking around the internet for the story of the song that popped up from my early childhood to comfort me last night. I do want to say that I feel much better today, as if that infected root really needed to be removed from my physical body.
For the last 10 years or so, the picture that comes to mind when meditating on Easter is not the violent excrutiating passion of the sermons and the films, but the image of Mary Magdalene looking into the tomb of Jesus, finding it empty. This has been the picture in my mind for the last few days.
I remember once in Germany doing a retreat over Easter time and this scene becoming very real to me. The simple idea that was discussed, was that all of us are like Mary, looking into the dark tomb and being to focussed on what is dark and missing in our lives. However, as she shifts her perspective to the light, she is able to focus on the gardener, Jesus. For us all, it is the basic idea that there is always a different perspective, another angle to perceive things from. For Mary the journey that day was just in turning around. For some of us this journey into seeing and believing the infinite possibilities is ongoing, long and arduous.
I can't remember if I shared this before, but my academic director who is an extremely efficient and organised Swiss lady, really surprised me recently when discussing my passport issues. I was so bogged down, only seeing the dark hole and the frustration and the lack, and after seriously looking at all the options together, she said,
' Who knows Stefani, maybe you need to travel to England to meet the love of your life at the Home Office'.
We both burst out laughing and this comment totally diffused the complexity of the situation.
The idea was so far fetched, but yet such a lesson for me. I am the eternal optimist, viewing the world through rose-colored sunglasses, but still I let the passport problem cloud everything.
So, on to the point of my story; it so happens that the writer of the song, Charles Austin Miles, was sitting in his darkened room where he kept his photographic equipment and his organ, meditating on this very image of Mary at the empty tomb. It was Easter of 1912. He had a kind of a vision, as he saw the scene playing out in front of him, perceiving himself to be part of it. He wrote the simple words and the music as a result of that.
The song became a cliche, and often played at funerals in America in the 1920s. I wonder how my super Afrikaner small town great-grandmother knew it.
But I do love the fact that this year Easter, and roses and my deep roots have all come together in this lovely non-coincidence to give me strength and to encourage me to look at life from all angles. Amen.
For the last 10 years or so, the picture that comes to mind when meditating on Easter is not the violent excrutiating passion of the sermons and the films, but the image of Mary Magdalene looking into the tomb of Jesus, finding it empty. This has been the picture in my mind for the last few days.
I remember once in Germany doing a retreat over Easter time and this scene becoming very real to me. The simple idea that was discussed, was that all of us are like Mary, looking into the dark tomb and being to focussed on what is dark and missing in our lives. However, as she shifts her perspective to the light, she is able to focus on the gardener, Jesus. For us all, it is the basic idea that there is always a different perspective, another angle to perceive things from. For Mary the journey that day was just in turning around. For some of us this journey into seeing and believing the infinite possibilities is ongoing, long and arduous.
I can't remember if I shared this before, but my academic director who is an extremely efficient and organised Swiss lady, really surprised me recently when discussing my passport issues. I was so bogged down, only seeing the dark hole and the frustration and the lack, and after seriously looking at all the options together, she said,
' Who knows Stefani, maybe you need to travel to England to meet the love of your life at the Home Office'.
We both burst out laughing and this comment totally diffused the complexity of the situation.
The idea was so far fetched, but yet such a lesson for me. I am the eternal optimist, viewing the world through rose-colored sunglasses, but still I let the passport problem cloud everything.
So, on to the point of my story; it so happens that the writer of the song, Charles Austin Miles, was sitting in his darkened room where he kept his photographic equipment and his organ, meditating on this very image of Mary at the empty tomb. It was Easter of 1912. He had a kind of a vision, as he saw the scene playing out in front of him, perceiving himself to be part of it. He wrote the simple words and the music as a result of that.
The song became a cliche, and often played at funerals in America in the 1920s. I wonder how my super Afrikaner small town great-grandmother knew it.
But I do love the fact that this year Easter, and roses and my deep roots have all come together in this lovely non-coincidence to give me strength and to encourage me to look at life from all angles. Amen.
Which song?
ReplyDeleteAlison