{"id":17916,"date":"2022-05-12T12:19:22","date_gmt":"2022-05-12T17:19:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/?p=17916"},"modified":"2026-02-26T13:32:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T19:32:30","slug":"arise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/2022\/05\/12\/arise\/","title":{"rendered":"Arise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We are an Easter people, a people of the resurrection, a people of re-creation. But now, five weeks out from Easter, it can be hard to live that way. I\u2019m tired. Even prayer seems too much of a burden sometimes. It is in these moments that I take comfort in the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 8:26-27: \u201cLikewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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El Greco’s “The Resurrection,” 1597 – 1600, found in Prado National Museum, Madrid, Spain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Not only does the Spirit groan on our behalf, but we are reminded that we too are the saints. Too often it is easy to think that the saints are only those recognized by the Church. And they can sometimes feel so distant. Who among us has the courage of a St. Perpetua, the visions and wisdom of a St. Hildegard, the desire for prayer and order of a St. Benedict? And yet we are also the saints. No, we are not canonized, we\u2019re not even in Heaven, and most of the time we feel very distant from it. But we are the saints too. We are the holy ones of God, set aside for his unique purpose, unity with him through Jesus and in the Spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What this means for us is that even when it is hard, even when we least feel the presence of God, we have to be an Easter people. This means we must live in that joy that goes beyond feeling. We must care for the oppressed, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and spread the gospel of new life in Christ to the world. We have to stand up and declare the reality that Christ is risen!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, this isn\u2019t just some nice, pie-in-sky idea, some metaphor about a new way of living in the here and now. Of course it is about a new way of living in the here and now, but there is more. There is hope, hope that all the wrongs we will never be able to right in the world will one day be righted for us by our coming King. There is a hope that death is not the end, but only the next step, the next door out of the foyer and into the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are an Easter people. It can be so hard to remember sometimes, but it\u2019s true. We are a people of the resurrection, a people to whom God says, \u201cArise!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arise! Arise and meet the risen One.\nThe Sun is dawning on the newest day.\nDeath has lost, the devil has not won,\nThe dead seed is now a tree come out to play.\nThe week has been re-written and now ends\nOn the day God said, \u201cLet there be Light.\u201d\nThe Light has been unveiled and eternally sends\nThe radiance of Joy to those lost in the night.\nThe first is now the eighth, eternal present,\nAnd its Light shall never be put out,\nBut we only see in part, like the lunar crescent\nOur sight is dimmed by our fear and doubt.\nBut today we know that Death has been defeated\nAnd the King is on his throne, in peace he\u2019s seated.\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Editor’s note: \u201cArise\u201d first appeared in the collection, \u201cLiturgical Entanglements,<\/a>\u201d out now with Resource Publications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\"David<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Dr. David Russell Mosley is a poet and theologian living and teaching in the Inland Northwest. His debut book of poetry, \u201cThe Green Man,\u201d<\/a> is available from Resource Publications. In his spare time, Dr. Mosley likes wandering around in the woods, spending time in community and smoking a pipe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We are an Easter people, a people of the resurrection, a people of re-creation. But now, five weeks out from Easter, it can be hard to live that way. I\u2019m tired. Even prayer seems too much of a burden sometimes. It is in these moments that I take comfort in the words of the Apostle...","protected":false},"author":149585908,"featured_media":17928,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2178641],"tags":[17075,2416,209044,698755379,698755976,401,33380,698755978,8329,698755979,93648,25731],"series":[698756626],"class_list":["post-17916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prayer-and-spirituality","tag-bible-verses","tag-church","tag-dedication","tag-easter","tag-el-greco","tag-faith","tag-holy-spirit","tag-hope-in-hard-times","tag-jesus","tag-meaning-of-the-resurrection","tag-resurrection","tag-scripture","series-messy-jesus-business"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Resurreccion_Prado-2-scaled.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/feed\/podcast\/messy-jesus-business","embedCode":"
Arise<\/a><\/blockquote>