Resurrection Day
An excerpt taken from the end of Bob Haverluck’s book “Little Sparrows See God Fall” (and rise). This scene takes place after Mary encounters Jesus in the garden on Easter morning.
Running and skipping back into the city, Mary’s mind was running too. “What a good mistake, thinking he was the gardener. He is the gardener of the wonderful watery earth and its cries for mending…‘Blessed are the tenderhearted, for the earth shall be theirs to tend tenderly’…He is the gardener of the second garden, a garden city for all creation with wide open gates in every direction. Wild and tame, coming, going. Through its middle a river of sweet water tumbling, fumbling turtles, fishes. On the weedy shore, trees of life for healing the earth and every nation. No more trees of death. And no more dancing shoes. To hell with the shoes. Dancing feets, bared to the earth! Wedding dancing…Christ, by God the gardener-groom and all creation the bride!”
When Mary left, Jesus returned to his dancing with the Sparrows, Ravens, Rabbits, Coyotes, escaped Lambs, Calves and others. For days, these ones had all been keeping watch, weeping with the delinquent mourning doves. They were there when Jesus came stumbling out of the grave cave into Easter morning. Like a punch drunk boxer, he staggered, slowly finding new legs and dancing feets. Gob-smacked at the lunaticling absurdity of the Holy, Christ Jesus laughed. Mary had some words to say it and Jesus had the dances and with the creatures, the rising song. Under the green rainbow of a treetop, the menagerie of all danced and sang. And nearby, Peter’s rooster sang like a lark as each tree leaf, a green sparrow, fluttered upwards and then returned to trees’ twig, tree’s stem, garden’s hem.
“But what was the song and the dance shared by the beloved earth and Jesus? Not a song, not a dance that has been given for us to know. There will be lots of wonderful surprises when God’s kindom comes. Maybe among them will be that song and that dance. For now, by God, it is Christ’s and the earth’s alone. Yet haven’t we ourselves been given a few dance tunes for the mean time?
Bob Haverluck is an artist storyteller who works with community groups using arts to help engage issues of conflict and violence against the earth and her creatures. His books are available by special offer for friends of CCS (and if you are reading this that means you) for $10.00 each through the Centre for Christian Studies, with proceeds going to benefit CCS. Thank you, Bob. Excerpt used with permission.
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