Welcome to the Funeral…

Processed with VSCO with a6 preset

Welcome to the Funeral.

Glad you could make it, take time out of your busy schedule to be here.

Dearly, dearly beloved,

we have gathered here today, in this place, for the loss of two

The first, dear ones, some of you might not recognize.

he’s fairly battered and bruised

he’s lost some weight along with every ounce of his blood

underneath the scarlet stained robes lies his crippled beaten corpse of a body.

his lungs have stilled

his veins were emptied

his extravagantly enlarged heart erupted

burst forth from his ribs

snuffing out life from his body

and in the end

he met his end

at our hands

The other, well I should say you all know him.

and if you don’t now, innocent child, you will know him intimately sooner or later

he was a vicious brute

raping the natural order, killing senselessly, without bias or reason

He was huge, monstrous, cosmic in proportion

all things fled from him

humanity denied him

but ultimately one and all enter his one sided embrace

you, yes you

you’ve been lying to yourself since birth about your inevitable acquaintance with this being,

allowing the fatuous fantasy of immortality to run rampant in your soul.

allow me to name the nameless fear we all pretend isn’t hiding behind every corner and in the backs of our minds

yes.

All-Mighty Death

yet.

here he lies.

lifeless.

Our first honoree wasn’t like everyone else who’ve been introduced to our second

There was something Other about him

His voice rang with authority

His words struck true

the people who knew Him muttered amongst themselves,

“what manner of man is this?

that even the winds

and the waves

(and the grave)

obeys him?”

He spoke

and people listened

enthralled

inspired

yet others reviled

this man they couldn’t

tame

silence

or define

reign in

or nail down

so instead

they resigned themselves to

driving nails through him

sticking him up on a tree on a hill

making an example out of him for all to see

mocking him as he died

inviting Death to claim his prize

the son of God with a spear in His side.

and die he did.

but our story doesn’t end there

The man’s meeting of Death struck something deep within the essence of this creature

it could feel the utter wrongness, the deep injustice, the raw outrage of the situation

this particular man’s dying struck a discordant note within creation itself

it resounded,

clamoring for attention from every rock and crevice of the earth

all crying out in one chorus with the dissonant music of mourning

and even now, little ones I know, it is resonating in the inner workings of your heart of hearts

the long forgotten dark corners and parts of hopelessness and despair

something very real in you that rails against this Creature’s reign in this world

the chink in the armor of your self-adorned personal eternity,

that knows you will taste Death’s infamous sting one day

all too soon

yet you know, innately that this Man, never should have had to

Three days may not seem like a long time

but in three days eternity passed

and was rewritten

with a different ending

and three days rewrote the present realities

with a different hierarchy at play

He dealt Death a killing blow

He told grave your time of dominion is at a close

He told the Death, You’ve eaten your fill

He rose.

and he won.

it’s as if he made spring to reflect his own resurrection

as he resuscitates the earth with new life

and as we see the flowers spring forth from dead and cold ground

we are transported within the expanse of our minds eye to that eternal shore

where there will be all manner of new creations and new things

that our GodMan, created for us

with His Great Love with which He loved us

Death, may we ask your corpse,

what have you ever created

except more of yourself

what have you ever made out of anything but hate, sorrow, and disdain?

nothing.

Now I invite you,

those who have ears let them hear and respond

step up,

one and all

look inside

see for yourself

one of the two coffins before you lies empty

three guesses which and the first two don’t count

You don’t have to be afraid

come close

I invite you now

to lose your life to find it

climb inside His empty coffin,

find life inside this death

walk out of the tomb together with me

and hand in hand

let us put the final nails in the lid of

Death’s casket

Death.

Admit defeat.

Death.

You’ve died.

the funeral is over.

Depart in peace.

He’s alive.

and my friends,

so are we.