Springtime rules #101
Christ is risen!
And to celebrate, gentiles the world over, orthodox, observant, secular and otherwise cram into our often otherwise spacious pews, and in our smartest springtime dress, celebrate the most important and most outlandish tenement of our faith. Just imagine, God almighty Himself manifests as one of his own lowly lovely well loved creatures, lives a relatively unremarkable life as a construction worker for 30 years, then one day, he becomes the most radical humanist teacher of all time all the while pissing off "the man". The Jewish establishment and the Roman establishment. Then without ever having done a single thing wrong in his entire life, he is convicted in a kangaroo court, sentenced to capital punishment (how unfair!), then tortured, humiliated, and shunned by his friends and then executed. Think about it. God, executed by a crooked bunch of pissed off bureaucrats*. Can you believe it? Well, if you can then it's hardly a leap to believe that three days was enough of being dead and on a bright and sunny spring morning He came back to life because quite frankly, springtime is just too good to be missed, and mankind is just good enough to be worth saving.
He is risen indeed!
*[Ed: Editorializing notwithstanding, Pilate was a mostly reasonable and skilled politician with a difficult job at a difficult time working for two difficult peoples.
And to celebrate, gentiles the world over, orthodox, observant, secular and otherwise cram into our often otherwise spacious pews, and in our smartest springtime dress, celebrate the most important and most outlandish tenement of our faith. Just imagine, God almighty Himself manifests as one of his own lowly lovely well loved creatures, lives a relatively unremarkable life as a construction worker for 30 years, then one day, he becomes the most radical humanist teacher of all time all the while pissing off "the man". The Jewish establishment and the Roman establishment. Then without ever having done a single thing wrong in his entire life, he is convicted in a kangaroo court, sentenced to capital punishment (how unfair!), then tortured, humiliated, and shunned by his friends and then executed. Think about it. God, executed by a crooked bunch of pissed off bureaucrats*. Can you believe it? Well, if you can then it's hardly a leap to believe that three days was enough of being dead and on a bright and sunny spring morning He came back to life because quite frankly, springtime is just too good to be missed, and mankind is just good enough to be worth saving.
He is risen indeed!
*[Ed: Editorializing notwithstanding, Pilate was a mostly reasonable and skilled politician with a difficult job at a difficult time working for two difficult peoples.