Journey to the Cross 
Pause
I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses;
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear,
The Son of God discloses.
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own,
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.
C. Austin Miles in “In the Garden” (1913)
Listen
Mary stood outside near the tomb, crying. As she cried, she bent down to look into the tomb. She saw two angels dressed in white, seated where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head and one at the foot. The angels asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
She replied, “They have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they’ve put him.” As soon as she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she didn’t know it was Jesus.
John 20:11-14
Think
When the angels ask Mary Magdalene why she’s crying, I wouldn’t be surprised if her first thought was something like, “Have you been living under a rock?!” Grieving, exhausted, maybe afraid that the perceived grave robbers would come back, she’s about to have to explain this huge loss that she has lived through, all over again. Sometimes, in all the excitement of our modern Easter celebrations, I forget just how long the first Easter morning must have felt. We know, of course, that Jesus is there in the garden with her and that she just doesn’t recognize him yet. Can you think of a time you felt stuck in a place where it was hard to recognize God’s presence?
Jesus being there doesn’t make Mary’s sadness or fear any less real, but this honest beginning to Easter morning is a tender reminder that God is with us too, patient and steady, even in the moments when we’re not quite ready to celebrate.
Allison Wehrung
Pray
God of the morning, as I enter each new day, help me to trust that you are walking into it with me.
When that trust is difficult to muster, help me to keep showing up anyway.
Amen.
Go
He speaks, and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing;
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing.
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own,
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.
C. Austin Miles in “In the Garden” (1913)
