from Pastor Bill…

Dear Pittman Park family,

Interesting isn’t it that in the first chapter of the Gospel According to John, Jesus is described in this way… “In him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” As John shares the gospel story, he wants us to understand that everywhere Jesus went, darkness was being banished!

We are now at the end of Lent moving through the somber days of Holy Week. If we did not know what was coming, we might believe that darkness had won. But God’s light dawned at Easter as never before! Any sudden transition from darkness to light can be disorienting for those experiencing it. The disciples were completely confused with Jesus’ resurrection appearances. Even the story of the Apostle Paul when he was blinded by God’s light on the road to Damascus is one that starts with divine disorientation. Paul spent the rest of his life processing that dramatic moment when Christ’s light broke through his darkness.

It was at the tomb on that first Easter morning that several disciples peered into the dark crevice of death and were surprised by angels clothed in brilliance. In the New International Version, Luke 24: 4 is translated: “While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.” All of us have experienced being blinded by the flash of a camera. Can you imagine how it must have been for those who made the effort to gaze upon the appearance of these heavenly messengers? Oh, the dots in front of
their eyes!

Some 600 years ago, Thomas ‘a Kempis wrote the following. For me somehow this just seems like a good prayer as we await Easter celebrations.

O everlasting Light,
Surpassing all created luminaries,
Flash forth Thy lightening from above,
Piercing all the most inward parts of my heart.

Make clean,
Make glad,
Make bright,
And make alive my spirit,
With all the powers thereof,
That I may cleave unto thee in ecstasies of joy.

Amen.

May the light of Christ’s resurrection infuse every fiber of our being as we continue to celebrate our Risen Savior!

Blessings!

Bill