Remembering Today

It was not until I wrote down the date that I realized what day it is. An anniversary of tremendous pain and sorrow. This morning I heard that the eucharist (The Lord's Supper) is a way for us to remember sorrow. It is a ritual that brings us into the time when Christ took on the pain we deserved. Even the pain of September 11th cannot match what Christ took upon himself that day. What September 11th does do is give us a window through which we can experience some of what it was like for Jesus to die the death we deserve.

But this morning I read Mark's account of the resurrection. Jesus defeated death; he overcame the pain and sorrow and lived. It is in the event of the resurrection that we can find hope even as we remember one of the darkest days in American history. We can have the confidence that the pain will not continue and the sorrow will eventually turn to joy.

What is interesting is the reaction of the women in Mark's gospel. After hearing the good news they flee the tomb in terror and amazement. They told no one what they experienced. Terror is a word thrown around a great deal in our culture. The reality is somehow the women overcame that terror. We would not know the story if that fact ceased to exist. We must overcome the terror too. And we must deliver the good news that we don't have to live in a constant state of sorrow or terror, because our hope resides in the One who overcame all of those dark times.