"Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles." - 1 Corinthians 15:7
As some of you may know, (I might have talked about it a bit?) my fiancé and I are starting our lives together in November and in the throws of that crazy process of combining our lives. That means lots of packing, sorting, purging and more packing. It means we are both going through our houses and deciding what we will keep, what we will share with our new life as husband and wife, and what we should give away. It's harder than I thought to get rid of a lot of things, even though we certainly don't need two toasters or two mixers or two coffee makers.
The thing about purging and getting rid of things, and more than just "things," is that it not only helps keep an organized household, it opens our lives for more and new. When we hold onto so much stuff it means that we cannot welcome the new into our lives. When our hands and hearts are already very full, we cannot welcome newness into our lives.
When we think about the Resurrected Christ, it seems many of us have a history or some "boxes of stuff" that we bring with. These are not bad or negative, in the same way my extra toaster is not a horrible thing, but we bring a lot of history with us to the experience of the Resurrected Christ. When we bring so much stuff with us, it also means our proverbial hands are full and unable to experience the newness of a resurrection experience.
When Jesus appeared to James, his brother, it is possible that James already had a familiarity with Jesus that "kept his hands full" because he was unable to set down those boxes of familiarity that came with that experience.
As we continue to look at these resurrection experiences and contemplate what it means to follow a Ressurrected Christ, what boxes are you bringing, and holding onto? What familiarity of Jesus are you holding onto that prevents you from a NEW experience with the Resurrected Christ? What mixers and coffee pots are you holding onto and not letting go of, that prevent you from experiencing newness? As it is time for some spring cleaning, what can you get rid of (or donate) that will open up your heart to experience the Resurrected Christ, anew?
Blessings on your packing and donating!
Laura
RSS Feed
