Surprised by Death and Life
April Newsletter
Happy week-after-Easter to all of you!
The picture above was taken on Easter afternoon ~ one of the most beautiful days we’ve had recently. We hiked to this outcrop that you can see from our house (which is somewhere over by that cliff in the photo). We basked in the sunshine, briefly, while the wind whirled our hair and the sea air filled our lungs. It was an exhilarating Easter moment. After a season of facing the reality of death, we couldn’t help but feel new life coursing within us.
My father-in-law passed away last month after declining for a few years due to dementia. Although his condition had been progressing for some time, and during the last few days we knew he wasn’t going to recover, there was still that sting of surprise.
When we pictured what would be happening this March, we didn’t expect that his passing would be a pivotal event. We didn’t foresee that we would be coordinating an emergency trip back to the States (for me, the second time through Chicago airport within a month), that we would be converging with extended family and friends we hadn’t seen in years or decades, that we would be gathering around a coffin to say goodbye to our mischievous, handsome, intelligent, courageous, charming Grandad.
Even when it’s not entirely unexpected, death still surprises us. It’s the finality of it, the permanence of it. We can’t rewind time to have that last conversation, or give that last hug, or eat that last black licorice jelly bean (Grandad’s preference). When we’re in the throes of life ~ running around to do all the things we need to do, immersed in the daily dramas, making plans for the future ~ it’s hard to believe that life is fragile and that it simply doesn’t last forever.
After returning from the funeral, we went straight back into our busy schedule of school and work. It wasn’t until Holy Saturday that I was finally able to sit with the reality of death again.
Over the last few years, Holy Saturday has become one of the most meaningful days in the liturgical year for me. It’s a day when our sole purpose is to dwell with what’s unresolved. We’re not trying to tie everything up with a neat bow. We’re not skipping straight to what’s easy and comfortable and joyful.
To me, Holy Saturday is possibly the most important part of the whole Christian story. Without it, the meaning of Easter would be severely diminished.
So ever since Covid, I’ve taken an hour of the day to sit ‘in the tomb.’ Last year, a handful of us gathered on Zoom to do this in silence together, which I found very powerful.
This year, I closed the door to the bedroom on Saturday afternoon and let my thoughts settle on the part of the Christian story we remember on that day. The finality and permanence of Jesus’ death, as his family and disciples would have experienced it. The injustice of his premature passing. The tragedy of human cruelty. The shocking end to such a vibrant life.
As I was spending some quiet time contemplating this solemnly, the door to the bedroom flew open.
“Hi Mom!!” my younger daughter bounced gleefully onto the bed. Then the dog ran in to join the fun. A few minutes later my son bounded down the hallway toward us. It wasn’t long before I had to laugh and throw up my hands and welcome the life that wasn’t leaving me alone.
Life, that undeterred energy, that irrepressible joy, that unstoppable hopefulness that rises up within us and around us. We can be surprised by life, too.
We were surprised by the breath of life we received while climbing that windy hill on Easter. You and I can be surprised by the life that courses through us even when we’re facing our human frailty. We can be surprised by the joy and hope that surges through us even after a time of mourning.
This Eastertide, even as we face the realities of death and injustice and human cruelty in this world, even as we tend to the suffering and the fragility of the lives we have, may we also be surprised by that irrepressible life that will always emerge.
Kiran
The Journal is out in Paperback!
For the past 10 weeks, I’ve been busy over on the Psalms for the Spirit podcast, featuring one Psalm per week as we journey through 44 Psalms with the accompanying journal. Find out more on the podcast webpage
And I wanted to share some news ~ the journal is now available in paperback format on Amazon! I had a bit of a thrill when I opened the package and felt it in my hands. I’ve never made a book before!
Here’s the link to the paperback journal (on amazon.com, though it is available globally). If you choose to purchase it, would you be so kind as to leave a review? That will help other readers find it.
If you’d like to join the Psalms journey, you would be most welcome. Free subscribers to Psalms for the Spirit receive a weekly short-form podcast, and Paid Subscribers to Bless My Feet or Psalms for the Spirit receive the podcast along with a downloadable mp3 of the song and journal pages (you also get the full 180-page journal ebook). Sometime soon, when I find a good window of time, I’ll be gathering us together for a Zoom call to check in with our fellow Psalm journeyers.
Upcoming Events
Retreats
Our retreat schedule is being confirmed for next year, but you can expect retreats at Corrymeela in November 2024, and February and April 2025. Next week we’re having our first six-day retreat at Corrymeela ~ I will see some of you there!
Pilgrimages
I’m also pleased to be back to accompanying pilgrimages quite regularly. I journeyed with a group to the Aran Islands last month, and in the coming weeks I will travel with two groups to Glendalough in the Wicklow mountains. On St Patrick’s Day, I walked with a small group of pilgrims from the Farset River to the Shankill, the site of one of the first churches Patrick founded. In October, I will journey across the water to Iona.
Spiritual Direction
I’ve been experimenting with an online booking system, but I realized how hard it is to keep that up to date, especially with unforeseen, unexpected events, or even ordinary appointments that I forget to put in my Google calendar! I’ve gone back to the old-fashioned system of emailing me when you want to make an appointment. Feel free to set up a time with me by contacting me at revkiran@gmail.com
Blessing for our Journey
May the God who is with us in our final breaths
blow a breath of new life into us,
whirling us out of our complacency
awakening us to our fragility
beckoning us to our humanity.
May we be resurrected
into that new life ~
that undeterred energy
that irrepressible joy
that unstoppable hopefulness
that rises up
within us and around us.
May we be
surprised
by life.
Amen