I'm Moving!

It's official, my blog has now moved over to our church blog. James Tippit (our senior pastor) and I will be blogging more frequently and switching off. You can follow this blog by going to this link: http://harriscreek.wordpress.com/

Ready to Squall

Yesterday at Lake Day we talked about Mark 4:35-41 and the story of when Jesus calmed the storm (squall) on the Sea of Galilee. Mark points out some important details in the story such as Jesus was asleep with his head on a cushion, the disciples were afraid, and the fact that Jesus has power over nature. But, perhaps the most important detail Mark lays out is that Jesus gets upset with the disciples for waking him up. Now I’m not always Mr. Rogers when someone wakes me up, but I think this goes beyond Jesus being frustrated about not getting his beauty sleep. I believe he is upset because calming every storm that comes in this life is not what Jesus’ Gospel is about. In fact, usually it is something of the exact opposite.

I would say there have been times where I felt like Jesus was asleep when life was storming around me, but what I’ve learned on the other side of those storms is that the storm is not what matters most. What is of the utmost importance is if you have Jesus “on board” with you or not. Every life encounters storms and we will all eventually meet a tidal wave called “death” which is inescapable. And when you reach the shores of eternity after that great adventure, the question of did your life count and make a difference will ultimately turn back to those times you encountered the many storms this world can throw at you. So rather than building a bunker and attempting to avoid all storms (which is impossible, even if you do build a bunker), I believe you should make yourself “ready to squall.” I think you should prepare for the storm that is coming either sooner or later. There are five ways to prepare for the storms of life that may come your way, and these pieces of advice are adapted from advice you would get from sailors that frequently encounter literal storms like the disciples and Jesus did in Mark 4. (Note: These 5 points are adapted from Leonard Sweet, one of my favorite authors/speakers and are not my original ideas in any way, shape or form.)

1. Get out of the harbor.

• Times of storms are when you get out of the harbor. The most dangerous place for a boat to be during a storm is anchored in the harbor because it will get battered against the shoreline. What this means for you is that you must go deeper with God during stormy times, not shallower. This is counterintuitive, but it is the safest thing to do when trouble comes. A quote that may help you is one that sits on my desk at work everyday from Oswald Chambers. He says, “If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time in the calm waters just inside the harbor, full of joy, but always tied to the dock. You have to get out past the harbor into the great depths of God, and begin to know things for yourself—begin to have spiritual discernment. Beware of paying attention or going back to what you once were, when God wants you to be something that you have never been.”

2. Steer into the storm.

• This, too, is a little counterintuitive, but the fact is you cannot escape some storms no matter how hard you try. Trying to go around it or away from it will only prolong the inevitable, and it will put you in a position of vulnerability. The best way to describe this is paying attention to difference between how cows and buffaloes naturally respond during storms. Cows tend to leave the herd trying to escape the storm. Buffaloes react just the opposite way and put their head down and persevere the storm. In doing this with the other buffaloes, they greatly increase their chances of survival.

3. Get rid of excess cargo.

• You probably have seen this on movies and TV shows, but when storms come to boats at sea the sailors almost immediately begin throwing things overboard to lighten the boat’s load. As Americans, we carry so much baggage. I am the world’s worst; every time I travel I pack three times more than I actually need. Stormy times are not a time to worry about “fringe stuff” in your life. It is actually the time to get back to the basics and the most essential and important things in your life (God, family and friends).

4. Lash yourself to the mast.

• When storms got really bad in the old times, you would see sailors do something a little odd. They would chain or tie the captain to the mast of the ship. This, of course, is dependent upon your willingness to “go down with the ship.” As I said, there is one time in every person’s life that you encounter a wave bigger than your boat, but if the storm you are in is not that one, then your best chance of survival is lashing yourself to the mast. This means you need to tie yourself to God’s Word (Jesus) and God’s word (Scripture). Absorbing all that the Bible has to say about who God is through the person of Jesus is your best chance of survival no matter how big or small the storm is.

5. Enjoy the ride.

• This last piece of advice boils down to one thing: you know storms are coming, so you might as well enjoy the process when you can. It may be a rollercoaster of emotion, but sometimes you pay good money to go on coasters, so cheer up! Find joy in the small things and know that every storm eventually passes. Also, you may never know what ways the storm has benefitted you from your limited perspective. Just as a tornado can be destructive and terrifying, the rain that comes can be nourishing and life-giving. Take joy in the fact that you are not God, thus you do not have the full picture in mind. If you do these five things when storms come, you will see that God’s grace will carry you through anything on this side of eternity, and His kindness will carry you into the other side of eternity.

Love that Surpasses Knowledge

In Ephesians 3:18-19, Paul prays that believers a Ephesus “may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” This idea of being filled with the “fullness of God” also shows up in another letter written by Paul called Colossians, which our church has been studying this summer. He says, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.” (Colossians 2:9-10)

This is quite a dramatic thought if you believe that God is the Creator of the universe. The Being that spoke and it was so can dwell in His entirety within the confines of your temporal body. Before you start shaking your head, this is what happened with the incarnation of Christ and is why Paul can say that we are to live “in Christ.”

When I read such thoughts by Paul, I struggle with the reality of his words when I look at my life and the lives of those around me. My life rarely, if ever, has felt the fullness of God. But why is this the case? Is Scripture or my life wrong? I cannot tell you how often I hear people’s sin get brushed over in two words and one simple phrase: “Nobody’s perfect.” This is a correct truth, but only a half-truth if you are living “in Christ.” We tend to dwell on Scripture’s understanding of original sin and think far too little of the Bible’s words on the weight of our eternal glory as Saints. Perhaps we rush to say this phrase because we feel inadequate when we look at our lives and the life described by Jesus and Paul in Scripture.

One area in which I know a large number of Christians excel in is knowledge about God and the Bible. This is quite a different thing than knowledge of God. Before, during and after my time in seminary, I have been amazed by the incredible minds that I have run into when it comes to knowledge about God in the Bible. In fact, I can clearly recall just last week at Pre-Teen Camp thinking, “These kids know all of the right answers to the questions we are asking them.” That is why I think by and large we have missed the boat when it comes to what it is that God desires of us. Jesus reminds us of one of my favorite verses in the Old Testament, which is Hosea 6:6, that says, “For I desire mercy (hesed – which means steadfast love or loyalty), not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.”

As Christians, we live in a subculture that is breeding a mass of people that can say the right answers but fail to embody them outside, or even inside for that matter, the church walls. Is this possibly the reason that we rush to say, “Nobody’s perfect” when we encounter each other’s failures? Is it because so few people who show genuine love and move through life without superiority, insensitivity, or gossip? Or is it because we continue to be impressed by people’s ability to quote philosophy and those who can clearly articulate the Bible as opposed to those who humbly walk in the beauty of Christlikeness by possessing humility and love for God and others? What if we stopped settling for less when it comes to spiritual practice just like we do when it comes to mental knowledge? What would your church look like if less people could win a debate over Calvinists or Arminians, but habitually showed love and kindness to annoying people without even thinking of it as a personal sacrifice? What does someone that knows “this love that surpasses knowledge” even look like? I’m not sure I could tell you. But I know Jesus and Paul would say that it is a sad state of affairs when we know more about God than we do of Him. I believe they would also say we have completely missed the point of being in relationship with God, and I think they are heartbroken over how far we are from experiencing the “fullness of God” in our lives.

How He Loves by Brady

There is a song called “How He Loves” that the David Crowder Band is putting on their new album titled “Church Music,” which will be released this September. I found out that the song was actually written by a guy named John Mark McMillan the day after one of his close friends named Stephen was killed in a car accident. The extraordinary thing about this story is that John Mark’s friend had prayed to God the morning of his wreck and stated that he would give his life if it would spark a movement amongst the youth in our nation. As I mentioned, that night he was killed in a car accident and people were left feeling as though Stephen was a sacrifice of a lesser kind than Christ.

The lyrics to the song are powerful because it uses terms of desperation and brokenness with words of love, grace, and hope. Here is just a sample of some of the lyrics: “Love's like a hurricane, I am a tree, Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy, When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory and I realize just how beautiful You are and how great your affections are for me;” “If grace is an ocean we're all sinking, So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss and my heart turns violently inside of my chest, I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way, that he loves us, how He loves us, how He loves us, how He loves.” This last line changes the entire message of the song and seems to imply that it is about the manner in which God chooses to express His love for us rather than being about the amount or depth of love that God has for us. I believe the imagery this song presents of being broken by love and almost drowning in grace is consistent with the message of Christ.

Out of all of the different and beautiful elements of this song, the most impactful thing to me is the title of the song. The title is not “How He Loves Us;” rather it is “How He Loves.” This song is addressing the way that God loves us, not the fact that God loves us. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus addresses the nature of this life many times. In a famous portion known as “The Sermon on the Mount” he uses birds as an example. He says, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Matthew 6:25-27)

To be honest, my wife has had a problem with this verse for a long time and never more than today probably. The lot that our house sits on has seven mature trees and 30 plus bird’s nests in them. This spring alone we have buried seven baby birds that have died, the most recent one being today. Today’s case was different because a baby dove had fallen and was still alive, yet the mother couldn’t get it back up into the nest high above. My wife did what she could to save the bird, but ultimately ants ate the bird alive before she could save it. And in this small fragment of the rhythm of life we see the pain that we experience as humans. This pain comes from what Charlie Hall calls “the beauty of the ash of love.” In short, it is the fact that spring means new life and also baby birds dying. It is a soldier dying when his wife is back home giving birth. These moments are why Jesus can say that to truly live, you must die.

I do not believe it is a coincidence that one of the few other times Jesus mentions birds in the Gospel of Matthew is when he is telling a potential follower what it will cost to follow him. He says, ““Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”” (Matthew 8:20-22) These are undeniably some of Jesus’ harshest words, but he is getting at the root of what Christians believe this life is ultimately about.

Did God grant the request of Stephen and allow him to die because of the prayer he prayed that morning? I’m not sure, but I know beauty was birthed out of this tragedy in the form of a song that has potential to transcend this life. I do know that the nature of God is to allow suffering to happen because of His love for us, not in spite of it. Just like the song says, it is simply “how he loves.” Because “unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” And this is the hope that we have as Christians. That God is not some distant deity smiting us by causing us pain and heartache; rather, He is love that chose to enter into this world full of pain and hurt with us, live a life worse than the birds of the air experience, and die a painful death in order that we might have life. And the call to us is to follow him in the way of love represented here: to die in order that we might have life. If we die to self for His glory in whatever way we are called, whether it is social, economical, material or literal death, He will produce something transcendent that is far more beautiful than anything we could create on our own. And that is the promise of Jesus in Matthew: “Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches.” (Matthew 13:32) This is the true nature of life found in Christ; this is the how He loves us.

Information vs. Wisdom by Brady

I recently finished another book by Malcolm Gladwell called “Blink.” He analyzes in his normal, off the wall kind of way, the art of a gut decision. There are several intriguing stories that back up his theories and make for an entertaining read, but his conclusion at the end is what has me thinking right now. He says, “We live in a world saturated with information. We have virtually unlimited amounts of data at our fingertips at all times, and we’re well versed in the arguments about the dangers of not knowing enough and not doing our homework. But what I have sensed is an enormous frustration with the unexpected costs of knowing too much, of being inundated with information. We have come to confuse information with understanding.”

I frequently say it a slightly different way: “Information does not lead to transformation.” The Bible has a ton to say along this same line, especially in the Psalms and Proverbs. “Lady Wisdom” is an ancient Hebrew concept that is described as a person calling out to people in the noisy street looking for someone to listen to her (Proverbs 1:20-21). This reminds me of today’s “Information Age” and the crowded blogosphere world we live in (and to which I am adding to at this moment…irony). If you are on Facebook or Twitter, you know exactly what I am talking about. There are so many gurus and “pearls” out there telling you the key to life, yet it seems like it boils down to two things in Scripture: fear and discipline.

Gladwell says that learning to trust your gut instinct is a no-brainer, but you must learn to train it first. He talks about the obsessive discipline it takes to gain enough understanding to trust your gut. This means that you’ve got to be disciplined when it comes to your intake of information. All information is not equal or equally valuable. All advice is not equally beneficial. The only way to move from knowledge to understanding is to be disciplined in filtering out the bad information and looking for the few important pieces of data that are required to make sound decisions. In our quick-fix society, no one wants to take the necessary time to be disciplined, and certainly no one wants to receive discipline from God. But Proverbs 3:11-12 says, “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes the son he delights in.” Tough words for an undisciplined society to swallow.

The other key to this is, as I said, is fear. This is the ability to take in the brutal facts and important data and learn to use it as motivation. A book by Peter Senge talks about our inability to deal with the truth when it comes to our own life, and our propensity to lower expectations when we are confronted with the brutal facts of our lives. He says, “If the first choice in pursuing personal mastery is to be true to your own vision, the second fundamental choice in support of personal mastery is commitment to the truth.” This means that we must learn to be ok with failure and be willing to confront the facts. It also means that we cannot fear the information we receive, rather we learn to fear (have a healthy respect) for God over all other things.

Malcolm Gladwell closes his book by saying, “The key to good decision making is not knowledge. It is understanding. We are swimming in the former. We are desperately lacking in the latter.” I think all of us hope that our leaders in government and other important positions in our life have wisdom and understanding, but I fear that the majority of us are simply knowledgeable. Rare is the person that seeks out wisdom because it takes humility, discipline and fear. My prayer for myself and others around me is that God will raise up a new generation that is wise and full of understanding about the times that we live in. My hope is that this generation will be able to confront the major problems in our world today with full wisdom and understanding. And I believe that the more information we receive and the necessity for truly wise people rises, that masses will begin to understand where wisdom and understanding come from. It is as Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

To Have Had and Lost by Brady

With the season finale of Lost being tonight, I think they are going to address a fundamental question of life that many people seem to be asking today. That question is, “Is it better to have something and lose it or not have it at all?” Kate has already asked this in the previous episode when she asked Jack if he was willing to change the future plane crash and not meet her or anyone else from Oceanic flight 815 at all.

What is interesting is that Coldplay and Jay-Z ask the same question in Coldplay’s EP called “Prospekt March.” Jay-Z says the line, “And the question is, is to have had and lost, Better than not having at all?” I would say this is more than a philosophical question that has no answer; rather, I see it as a spiritual matter that determines the way you see the world.

I believe that Christianity offers a way to view the world which allows for suffering because of one intrinsic human quality: love. The world of “religion” is turned upside with one verse from the Bible: “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” (1 John 4:16) John goes on to say in verses 20-21, “If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” If you are a follower of Christ or believer in God, this is not really a question for you at all. The answer every single time must be, “Yes, it is better to have had and lost.”

C.S. Lewis addresses this same question after suffering the sorrow of losing his wife, Joy. “Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”

I know several people going through searing pain of loss right now. I have family members that have experienced deep loss of husbands, fathers, and children. I personally have experienced that pain as well. But to be Christian is to be willing to love even though you will experience the pain of losing that which you love. Christians (as my pastor James points out, Christians means “little Christs”) are reflections of God in that Jesus is the embodiment of this principle. He had infinity and took on finitude. God could have forced us to follow him, but He chose relationship and freewill instead. We, in turn, are forced to make a similar choice each day: Do we continue to love those people and things that will ultimately hurt us, or do we lock ourselves up in an airtight casket that is impenetrable hoping to avoid the pain of this life? I don’t know what the characters of Lost or Jay-Z will choose, but I would say “Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.”

Christmas and Good Friday by Brady

We've all seen the iPod commercial that puts Peanut Butter and Jelly, Cookies and Milk, and Hammers and Nails together. But the marketing geniuses at Apple left one out: Christmas and Good Friday. Christmas and Good Friday? What do those two things have in common? For me, it is next to impossible to separate Christmas and Good Friday. At first glance to the casual observer, these holidays have nothing in common. One has a bunny and another a fat man with a beard. One is in the dead of winter and the other on the cusp of Spring. Even in Christianity, one celebrates the birth of Jesus and the other his gruesome death. I guess it could almost seem a little sadistic to tie a celebration of the birth of a baby and the death of that same baby together, but I believe this is what the gospels do for us.

From very early on, the birth and life of Jesus is pointing to one end: the cross. Even when he is being dedicated in the temple by a man named Simeon, this is the prophecy spoken over the baby boy: ““Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”” (Luke 2:28-35 NIV)

I am not a parent, but the word “gulp” comes to mind if this prophecy is spoken over my firstborn. The proclamation begins with a promising and rewarding tone, and Jesus’ parents are overjoyed by this message. But then Simeon makes a U-turn and begins to speak of the conflict that this child will cause. He will cause many in Israel to rise and fall. Not only that, “but a sword will pierce your own soul, too.” The immediate connection is drawn between Christmas and Good Friday, birth and death. I have been told that there is no love like the one a parent has for their child, and it must be paralyzing to hear that your child will pierce your own soul at some point.

One of my favorite songs right now is “O Church, Arise” by Keith Getty. (Disclaimer: It’s not a “cool” song, but the lyrics are deep and true.) Part of the second verse says, “And with the sword, that makes the wounded whole, we will fight with faith and valor.” This statement is a little oxymoronic and is much like tying Christmas and Good Friday together. A sword, by definition, cannot heal wounds, it can only inflict them. But that is the truth that is presented in Luke 2, and it is predicated on the fact that “many hearts will be revealed.” From being in ministry for almost 4 years, I have seen a lot of hearts and all of them have been wounded. Some have been healed from those wounds and others are still gaping wide open, but all are wounded indeed.

In fact, one of the biggest obstacles to overcome in a loving relationship is exposing your true self to someone else. That is why so many people become “cat ladies” or “dog lovers.” It is far easier to give your affection to a fury creature that does not know the depths of your wounds when your true heart is revealed. And because the Bible states that “God is love,” there is no choice but to enter into that wound in order to heal it. The problem becomes that most people would call God vicious or unloving for doing such a thing. A person that would pierce the soul of his own mother has to be vicious! But I have yet to hear someone call a doctor unloving for inflicting wounds in order to heal. No one ever complains about the scars of surgery when that very surgery has given them new life. And that is what God does to us: He is willing to use a sword, to inflict pain and wound us in order to heal us. That is because He knows our condition, our hearts have been revealed, and they need to be pierced.

And that is the connection between Christmas and Good Friday. It is something as oxymoronic as a virgin mother or being born again. But that seems to be the business that God is in. Using great pain to bring much joy. Using our weakness as strength. Sending a king to serve. Causing the first to be last and the last to be first. Such is the kingdom of God. So may you during this Lenten season reveal your true heart to God and allow it to be pierced by the sword “that makes the wounded whole.”

Rhythm, Depth, and the Connectedness of Life

Over the last two and a half weeks I have been battling a sickness that has been kicking my tail. It started with nausea, led to a 9 point cold on a 10-point scale, and now is in the “cough up your lungs” stage. What I am experiencing is not uncommon for this time of year. In fact, a number of people in our church have a similar illness that they’ve been battling for weeks as well. But what is interesting to me is that I have been sick at least 6 out of the last 8 years around this exact time period. How do I know this? Well it’s not because I track my colds and viruses on an Excel spreadsheet.

Today (March 3) is a day that will always be seared into my family’s memory. In my opinion there are three types of days. There are normal days that you need to look on a calendar or internet site to figure out what happened on “this day in history.” These dates are the majority of our days. Then there are dates that we are supposed to remember and commit to memory. These are birthdays, anniversaries and important dates in history. These days are important in your life, but the very fact that you have to work to commit them to memory puts them in this category. The last category is filled with days that you could never forget even if you tried. I am sure that September 11 is one of these days for a large majority of Americans. And, as I said earlier, March 3 is one that my family always remembers without effort. Eight years ago today my youngest sister was killed in a car accident as a 16 year old. The events that transpired still ring fresh in my memory even with the passing of nearly a decade.

And that takes me back to my sickness. My personality is one that usually buries emotion and hides weakness. But this terrible habit of mine usually catches up with about this time every year. Now I may get sick around this time of year because my immune system is lower in the winter and more susceptible to illness. But somehow or another my body has become worn out and fatigued at this exact day almost every year for the last 8 years. I also usually become a little more irritable and moody. All of this happens even without me consciously anticipating the anniversary of her wreck. I’ve got to admit, last Tuesday I did not sit around and think, “only one more week until March 3.” In fact, two days ago I couldn’t have told you it was coming up. It is not something I have to cognitively dwell on to have it affect me. My body responds and reacts because it is engrained in my rhythm. I also believe that it reacts because we are so intimately connected with the created world around us. When we experience the death of something we love, a piece of our lives will also forever be gone with that person or thing.

And that reminds me of what the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:7-12. “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.”

Paul begins by talking about the nature of life and how fragile we are as humans. He describes life as one where we are troubled, deeply saddened or in despair, and even stricken with illness. He goes on to say, “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” And this speaks to how intimately connected we are with one another. This is the glory of the Gospel, which is truly Good News: that we must die in order to have life. It is also the true meaning of being a Christian. Not that we just “believe in” Jesus’ death and resurrection, but that we actually “identify with” Jesus’ death and resurrection. This is why Paul can say in Galatians 5:24, “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh.” And that is why he can go on to say in Romans 6:3-5, “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.”

To me that is what Lent is about. Going through a 40 day “wilderness experience” and letting parts of your life die so they can regenerate into something new and holy. And that is why I will embrace the sickness in my body that I carry around in part because of my mourning. To know Jesus in his death is to know him in his resurrection. I am aware that Jesus has risen and remains alive during Lent, but this is a period for Christians to experience a connectedness with God in his suffering. This is my only hope during times of deep grief over my sister or other friends and family that have passed away: that God took it upon Himself to be subjected to suffering and death so that we might have life. And there is a time to celebrate this life as Christians, and that is Easter. There is also a time to celebrate my sister’s life, and that is March 4 and June 28 (her birthday). But today, just as in the Lenten season, we mourn and experience the depths of the pain of death so that we can experience the heights and joy of eternal life. Because we know that “if we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.”