A Different Resurrection Story

Winter has gone. And here in Atlanta, Spring is not Spring, but Summer. 86 Degrees the past two days/daze...
I celebrated Easter by remembering not only "He Is Risen", but by commemorating the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's assasination, which this year, fell on Easter Sunday.
I thought it would be meaningful to visit the church where Dr.King himself once preached, and I called and asked newfound(new being the past two years)eternal friend, Diane Davis Weeks, to accompany me.
We dressed up, and headed out to Ebenzer....
Ebenezer Baptist Church was filled with a rainbow of like-minded folks, and the songs, praise and liturgy that day, were breath-taking.
Pastor Ralph G. Warnock spoke bravely about politics, challenging us (as Christians, as people of faith) to remember the poor.
"No one talks about the poor anymore," he began, "Not even Democrats talk about the poor." He added,"We hate the poor. It's their fault,; they're not trying..."
He astutely pointed out that both Jesus and the Bible speak of comfort and great inheritance for the poor.
He then spoke of Jesus and his famous quote: "...the grain of wheat which dies, bears much fruit."
He pointed out, in a very accessible, folks-y way, that "God has you covered."
Pastor added:
"The seed of wheat is worth nothing until it's buried, when it can become more than itself."
Only in death, do we live, and bear fruit.
He ended with what I'd call a modern-day parable:
It seems a terrible forest fire happened out west, and the ranger was walking through the remains of a forest. At one point, he came upon a bird, standing upright, wings extended, burnt to a crisp. He thought it strange the bird would have held still, wings outstretched, and choose to die. He needed to move it out of the way, and so he gently kicked at the dead body, and suddenly there was an eruption of live, healthy baby chicks, which started out from under her wings.
She had endured death for those for whom she loved.
And life sprang forth, from death.
Peace, kids.

HAPPY EASTER/HAPPY SPRING!!!

HAPPY EASTER/HAPPY SPRING!!!
If you call yourself a Christian, then today is one of the most important days of your life--the commemoration/celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Even before I embraced faith, even back when I lived and breathed only Atheist "doctrine"(if I could not SEE something in front of me, it did not exist), Spring still felt "special". I now know that what I responded to back then, was the sense of "renewal" one feels, every Spring.
With meditation and prayer, I made the link only a few years ago, to a belief in God, and in Christ.
I am one of those liberal Christians who believes in the tenants of "social Gospel"--that means we endeavor to address the needs of the marginalized--just as Christ did. Feeding the hungry, clothing and housing the poor, and providing education and medical and other assistance for the troubled. I also believe that those who call themselves "Christian" who attempt to exclude those of us who are LGBTQ, are deeply misguided(Blacks were once excluded from many early Christian groups). God exists for all of us. Period.
I will never tell you that my way is the only way to enlightenment, or fulfillment. But I can tell you, without reservation, that with God I am a larger, more fulfilled person, than I was for so many years before finding my way to faith.
I pray that all my readers will come to a sense of serving a larger purpose, however you may find it.
God Bless You All, and HAPPY EASTER!!
http://www.paxchristiusa.org/
Please note: I'll be out-of-town for nearly 8 days, and will resume blogging and responding to e-mails, next Tuesday, April 21st.