The word of Triumph
It is finished
John 19:30
(photo by Pastor Keith)
It Is
Finished.
Look.
Can you see
the victory?
There, the
wood of the cross stands silent,
offers
instruction in silence,
in shadow,
we weep,
the moment
unending,
unending,
stretching out into
the minutes
that mark
our lives
fixed here, in darkness.
But look,
a light in
the darkness.
Yes, a
light,
Life, not
death.
Let not
your eyes deceive you.
Blink. Tears
make clear what we see only in shadow,
what we
dare to dream.
Look. See.
Let all
resolve into hope,
hope
beyond, beyond the vastness of infinite
creation,
the mountains, the seas, galaxies,
the primal
heat of a thousand thousands suns,
All being
made new, transformed,
death to
life, the power of death broken, shattered,
shards
eroding into dust carried on the wind.
We shall
not diminish death, its pain,
pain that
sears the soul, tears,
leaves love
bleeding, weeping,
unending
memories that long for healing.
The scars
that remain.
We shall
not diminish what is lost.
We grieve.
Echoes of
words still being heard,
I thirst, I
thirst, I thirst,
words living
still in our thoughts.
We shudder,
a son is
dead.
My God, why
have you forsaken me?
Abandonment
shall not claim the final word, nor death.
There is no
shadow without light,
And in him
was light, the light of all people.
The
light shines in the darkness,
and
the darkness did not overcome it.
Look,
in the light love breathes,
it
lives, it flourishes,
grace
in all its beauty, wonder,
the
glory of the heavens bursting forth
in
song, singing, praising,
our
souls stilled
It
is finished,
can
you see the victory?
In
patience we pause,
not
to ponder what has been lost,
but
that in Christ
we
have been found and found forever,
the
love of God written
in
living words that shall not fade,
shall
not fail, love,
dwelling, abiding,
defining us forever.