A photo of the house Jack and Jackie Kennedy rented when they were newlyweds is for sale in Georgetown. A color photo of it appeared in the paper today with a black and white overlay of the bright young couple at the front door. I found myself remembering that different era of confidence and joyful possibility, before all the assassinations and riots. Wrapped in nostalgia, longing for the way things were.
Today’s Gospel* is a startling account of Mary of Magdala finding Jesus’ tomb empty after the horror of the crucifixion. She weeps, not knowing where his body has been taken. Turning to speak with someone she thinks is a gardener, she only recognizes it is Jesus when he speaks her name. Mary enthusiastically responds with the familiar name for her teacher, “Rabboni!” Jesus immediately gives her instructions. “Don’t cling to me for I have not yet ascended and go tell the others.” Mary obeys and, surely exultantly, tells them “I have seen the LORD.” Rabboni, now Lord. She is the first witness of the resurrection.
“Do not cling to me,” Jesus said. Don’t hold onto me. Move on, don’t stay here. These are surprising, instructive first words from the one who has moved beyond death. Command and invitation, both point to transformation of his identity and their relationship. Eternity is at hand, and everything is in flux, shifting, moving on. Jesus’ words offer confirmation of a New Reality.
Too frequently these days I find myself clinging to a former reality. When my children lived nearby. When my husband and I were in better health. When I could readily follow through on new initiatives that I could envision. These point me backward and weigh me down. Jesus’ words encourage me to seek a new perspective, to get unstuck and move on.
I remember a doctor responding to my discouragement of a long-term healing process, saying “But you have eternity.” That was a whole new perspective on a health issue. I also remember a t-shirt someone gave to Gordon Cosby that said “Everything is urgent” on the front and “Nothing really matters” on the back. Taken together, those two statements forge a new perspective. Letting go, facing what is no longer true or real, is crucial now for opening to the resurrection reality. I believe it is unfolding now with new revelations and possibilities. I don’t want to miss that because I am buried in the sands of the past!
So I am taking in the instruction to stop clinging to old perceptions and old ways. I want to grasp the Now in simple obedience, as Mary of Magdala did. I want to move on with a fresh, confident sense of the Resurrected Christ eternally present. There are serious challenges ahead in the many fields of unknowing, in personal and community life. I want to be fully alert to the Eternal One revealing, and companioning, new opportunities for love and justice. In me and through me.
Let’s all all stop clinging to outdated realities and move on! Let’s all be wide-eyed, open-hearted witnesses of the resurrection reality.
- What are you clinging to that keeps you from moving on?
- What sense of invitation do you have in your relationship with God?
- How are you a witness of the resurrection?
–Ann Dean, Dayspring Church
