Practice Resurrection

 Wendall Barry once said to "practice resurrection" and this short but impactful reference in a recent book I read has stuck with me in the days since... 

Practice. Resurrection. 

What does this mean for your life and mine? If this is an essential aspect of the human experience and, in particular, the human spiritual existence, why should we do this? 

As I sit here typing, a few truths come to mind... 

To "practice resurrection" is to accept the phases of resurrection: the dying, the waiting, the rising. Without the steps of this process, each teaching us what we ought to learn along the way, practicing resurrection is nearly impossible. In order to feel and see the full effect of what God is after in a particular situation and really, in all of life, there must be times of dying, of waiting so that the rising may have its completion and impact. 

To "practice resurrection" is cultivate - cultivate relationship, cultivate life, cultivate love. When one is in the business of practicing resurrection, one can't escape the necessary participation in the cycle of living and growing and producing. Whether it be on a physical level like gardening or home beautification or repairing old things or a more emotional, intimate level involving things of the heart, cultivation is vital. We are intended to get involved in the journey of things and people - to add our bit to the story. Without such participation, we grow stagnant and things begin to decay. We need to fertilize and water and tend to the most important things so that the ongoing process of redeeming can continue. 

To "practice resurrection" is to be passionate about the impossible. If Jesus's resurrection was any indication, practicing resurrection means that we are excited about second chances and bad odds. We are not intimidated by the challenges of situations or the degree to which things and people have fallen apart. After all, just when things seemed to be at their darkest and worst was when Jesus came back to life and revealed His triumph over sin and death that glorious morning of the third day. Giving up on God's plan in circumstances, quitting on ourselves or others, writing off people's stories or situations as being irreparable or beyond help and hope is not an option in the kingdom of God. We can be realistic about things yet not hopeless. There is a difference. 

To "practice resurrection" is to love the true, good, and beautiful. It's to get ourselves in touch with a wonderful created world that our Maker has made and so many lovely things He has put into it for our enjoyment. True, sin has done a massive job on this place and those of us who live in it, but the bad isn't all there is. The hard doesn't have the final say. In order to combat and cope with the ravages of death, debt, and despair in this world, we need to be surrounding ourselves with the stuff that speaks life and redemption. We need to think on the things that are honorable, noble, right, pure, excellent, admirable (Philippians 4:8) if we're to keep our perspective on this journey and remain expectant for what God's next move will be. 

To "practice resurrection" is to be intentional. Creating space in our lives for this art of practicing resurrection is committed, and sometimes difficult, work. When the demands and pressures of life crowd in and fear calls for our attention, it takes deliberate effort to keep this as the focus of our living... to not let the numerous things that try to squeeze the soul out of us distract us from bringing God's bigger plan into the moment and reminding ourselves that there is always more to what we are living than there looks to be. 

These two words have become a sort of call to me personally. When I'm faced with unknown situations or the daily difficulties of living, I bring myself back to this and see the present as an opportunity to "practice resurrection." How can I move this from an obligation into a blessing? How can shift my thinking from lack into abundance? How can I cause my vision to focus on the beautiful even in the midst of the ugly? How can I find even a small way of cultivating and renewing life regardless of what others things may be going on around me? If doing life with Jesus is about "righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:7), then somehow I need to get out of the easily-besetting negativity and start thinking in terms of life and hope! 

Today, I just wanted to throw this out there as a challenge to whomever is reading this: practice resurrection, friend. In a world of dead and dying things where we're constantly bombarded by bad news and hopelessness and loss and pain, we need to be people who are taking the life we're given and doing something healing with it. We need to be patterning with the risen Christ in the work of redeeming and restoring and mending. We need to be moving toward wholeness instead of just giving into the hard and heavy of it all. What that looks like may vary person to person but it isn't optional. It is necessary. And it is good.