Today We Remember Death

Today, in the Christian tradition, we remember death. We remember cruel death fueled by fear and hatred at the hands of political and religious authorities. We remember the crowd who stood and jeered at the man hanging on a tree stripped of its living leaves, branches, and roots.

Christ himself the Tree of Life no longer.

We remember the women who stood around, watching and waiting and weeping. We remember the oppression of empire and those who acquiesced. We remember those who loved.

It does not feel so long ago. The cruelty and lust for power, the poison of sheer hate. It does not feel far away at all.

I understand why the cross became the icon of Christ, but this day it troubles me.

I want the tree to live again.

But we must be there, we must live through his death. As witnesses, as ones who remember what human beings can do.

“Were you there when they crucified my Lord?”

Do you remember? 
Can you see it with the eyes of your heart? 
Can you feel it in the bones of your body? 
Do hear the cries? 

We must remember, for we are not so far away after all.

Death is close at hand.

When Jesus wept, the falling tear 
in mercy flowed beyond all bound. 
When Jesus groaned, a trembling fear 
seized all the guilty world around.

But if we remember his death, can we remember also his way of life? If we are going to remember only one thing, let it be this:

We must love. Everything.

Even these witless agents of fear and destruction, doomed to tear the world apart. Can you imagine what dwells in their hearts, devouring everything? What it must be like to live with that inside you?

Can we remember the really hard part of what he taught us?