Easter 2007

Nigiri san men,

tashi san men,

tsuki san men.

As many of you know, I spent last weekend in New York taking a karate promotion exam.

It was a very challenging and ultimately rewarding process – physically, mentally, & spiritually. The 4 days of classes and testing included 2 meditations and talks by our head instructor. The above was the topic of one of them. Nigiri san men, tashi san men, tsuki san men.

It means that it takes three years to learn to make a fist, three more to learn how to stand, and three more to learn how to punch. It tells us that it takes 1,000’s of repetitions to begin to master even the most basic technique. Sound like a lot? After years of training, I’m starting to see the truth in it.

Today is Easter: a high holy day in our church. A feast day that bears with it, a message of new life, and hope, and with it the gift of possibilities. A strong, clear message to each & all that God’s love conquers all. Yet if we look at the gospel story that we just heard is that what we see?

Two women gather to go to the tomb of their beloved friend & teacher. It is the early dawn – lonely & cold. As they collect the spices they need to say their last goodbye to Jesus, they are filled with disbelief, grief, despair. The empty tomb that greets them is at first not a sign of hope but of fear: Not only have they lost their friend to death, but now someone has stolen his body, as well. What are they to do? Where are they to go now? Even when the angels greet them they are terrified.

It is only when those angels tell the women the story they already know – that they can begin to feel anything else: “Remember how he told you that he would have to die and on the third day rise again?” Remember?! They walked through it with those angels, in their own minds, & with one another! They recall what Jesus’ said; what he’d lived; what he’d promised, and only then, did they start to see the truth in it: the hope and gift of life that might come out of the tragedy.

And so when they went to see the other disciples they had a choice. What would they convey to them? Would it be the fear, and loss, or the glimpse of hope that the angels offered? What would their practice of faith be? What would they repeat & share, and, in turn, learn more deeply?

We too are each faced with a choice, about what our faith practice will be. Our Christian story gives us many basic truths that we can rehearse for a lifetime, before we may begin to see the full truth in them.

What will it be? Is ours a Christmas faith? Do we live in the awe of the incarnation of Christ coming into the world, and the ongoing gift of God among us? Or is it a Good Friday faith? Do we focus on the sin that led to the cross, and Jesus’ sacrifice, suffering and death? Or is it the Easter message, and do we polish in all that we do the potential that all things are redeemable in Christ?

God with us, san men. Jesus’ sacrifice, san men. We are redeemed, san men. Practice. Practice. Practice!

Love, generosity, forgiveness. Compassion, courage, faith, honesty . . .All of life is an opportunity to practice the basics and to learn more and more deeply. As we practice, so shall we find the truth in it.

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!!!