I went back to my file of photos to use this image ... it is one of the now lost stained glass windows from our Church. It fits well with the reflection I would offer on the Memorial Service held at the AGM on Saturday.
At the meeting we remembered those Saints of the Church who in the last year have gone on before us ... using a multimedia presentation we remembered by name and with pictures, those whom we've lost. It was a powerful service of Remembrance.
Throughout it, the images and the words used hearkened us to how death is very much like the shattering of glass - the shards scatter and leave us wondering what to do next ...
As the service began and the presider spoke of life and death being like glass breaking, I was taken back to the bitter cold morning following the fire when Sarah Burton and I picked through the debris that was only hours before - our Church. Our search was for any shards of glass form the glorious windows that graced our sanctuary ... we picked in the ice and snow ... we froze our finger tips and cut our hands and fingers trying to pry loose tiny coloured shards of glass ...
For all our hard work we have a small box of shards ... tiny, irregular shaped shards of glass that were once pictures of Jesus, harps, wheat sheafs, crosses and flowers ... as we picked through the debris in the bitter February cold, we hoped to slavage from the snow and ashes anything that could be used in a fresh new way to grace our new home when it rises and opens ...
Such is the power of the resurrection: Death comes and shatters our hopes, our dreams, our future ... the life we once lived is left scattered and shattered across the floor - shards of what once was ... But then we begin to pick up the pieces ... we pick through the dust and ashes, the snow and ice, and we gather what we can ... we can recreate - we can pick up the pieces and allow the light to shine through the shards ... Glorious, numinous light ...
That is the Resurrection: even in the smallest shards, the light shines through and brings beauty and colour to our world ... to pick up the pieces requires time and patience ... to craft something new demands time and creativity ... to be open to the new light combinations needs vision and faith ... And when we open our eyes, our hearts and our souls in that moment and are bathed in fresh new light, we are living the Resurrection.
May it be so ... thanks be to God ...
L'chaim
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