When I listen for the whispers of the Holy Spirit in this time, I hear echoes of the gospel story about Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary. It may not sound like good news on first bounce, but if I stay with it long enough, I can feel the deeper reverberations of a base note of truth, a calling into death so that I may be unbound and live more freely in God’s grace. 

In the midst of taking my losses during this pandemic and in life in general, dying the little deaths of life, I forget that little deaths are part of the journey. Deaths are part of the adventure. Sometimes in taking my losses I loose perspective of acceptance; the acceptance that losses, little deaths are part of life. And, just like we see Jesus with Mary and the people of the town in their grief taking their loss, experiencing the depths of their grief, Jesus is with us too. I find comfort in knowing a loving God is with me in my times of sorrow. That my loving God is likely greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved by my pain. He may even weep along with me which is saying something because I’m a real crier. 

And, the good news for me and everyone else is that given our faith death is not the end of the story. For Christians, in little deaths and in our ultimate death on earth, death doesn’t have the privilege of the last word. Even though things, relationships, situations, circumstances die, by the grace of God we will live. And if we so choose to surrender to being unbound, we may just find that the little deaths crack open an opportunity to be set free. As we take our losses, God can unbind us and set us free. Through The Resurrection, we are given the hope that our soul will rise again. Amen.

You can find an extended podcast episode of soul rising here.

You can find a 10 minute meditation: Becoming Unbound here.

You can find a transcript of today’s podcast episode here.