Resurrection Day, by Lucy Mills

Today is what I like to call Resurrection Day. This is it - the hinge point, the moment when our faith becomes reality, where death can not hold the Son of God, where all he has said and done is vindicated, validated, underlined and given several exclamation marks.

I'm not a fan of lots of exclamation marks, but I allow extra on Resurrection Day.

He is risen!!!

This is our good news - not only that Jesus died but that in his dying he defeated death. That the end of the story is not the end at all but a vast new beginning.  That to be a Christian means to follow a risen Lord.

How can we even begin to put this into words? Sometimes in our eagerness, we end up writing too many words, using too many adjectives and adverbs and purple prose in our desperation to create an impact.  And sometimes we are too sparing - we forget to celebrate with our writing, neglect to let our excitement flow through.

Because today of all days is one when we are called to 'Go, tell!' just as the women who found the empty tomb ran to tell the other disciples.

How are we using our words to 'go, tell!'?

Words are funny little creatures; they hold within them shades of meaning, and these meanings can shift over time.  Some words absorb associations that weren't there before, or only fit in certain contexts.

Our challenge as writers and as Christians - and therefore 'Good News people' - is to use these ever-changing words to tell our turbulent world about the never-changing Word.  The Word who is made flesh, flesh which suffered and died.

Jesus.

How shall we tell of him? For some of us the call will be to write.  For others of us, perhaps we need to listen more carefully.  Is God asking us to share the Good News in a different way?  There's no one-size-fits-all template. We need to revisit our 'call' to writing sometimes - to test it, to see if it is still true in this moment at this time. Not everyone is called to write a book!   Sometimes we mishear - but just because one person has done it that way, doesn't mean we all need to do it. Let's examine our lives and our calling on a regular basis.

I ask myself - what is the most effective way I can share this Good News today? Who needs to hear it, and how can I tell them?

Lord, on this Resurrection Day, 
in many ways I am left speechless.
Who can tell of your glory?
Yet this is what we are called to do.
Give us the right words, by the power of your Holy Spirit,
in whatever way you want us to use them.
Amen

***

 

Lucy Mills

Lucy's first book, Forgetful Heart: remembering God in a distracted world, was published in 2014 by Darton, Longman and Todd (DLT). She's written articles, poetry and prayers for various publications and is an editor at magnet magazine. www.lucy-mills.com

Lucy on Twitter: @lucymills
Lucy's Facebook page

Previous More than Writer posts:

• Words in the Darkness (February 2016)
• Memories of a (Washing) Machine (January 2016)
• The God of every place (December 2015)
• A way with words (November 2015)
• Know yourself (October 2015)
• When a writer walks down a wall (September 2015)
• The power of the backstory (August 2015)
• The long way round (July 2015)
• Taming the tentacles (June 2015)
• Tracing the journey (May 2015)
• Why a bit of polish matters (April 2015)