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Dear Friends,
In his poem “Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front,” the sage Wendell Berry urges us, “every day do something that won’t compute… Practice resurrection.”
His words remind us that the good news of the empty tomb does not arrive as a tidy conclusion, but as a holy disruption. In a world that so often rehearses despair — which fuels the status quo — Jesus’ resurrection catalyzes a different practice: a way of living that refuses to concede that death, fear, hate, or violence get the final word.
Practicing resurrection begins in the quiet, personal places: choosing forgiveness over resentment, tending to hope when cynicism feels easier, taking courageous next steps, and noticing signs of new life where we had stopped looking. But it does not end there. We practice resurrection together whenever we build communities of compassion and justice, resist systems that diminish life, and embody the stubborn, healing grace of God in a fractured world.
Easter faith is not just something we proclaim once a year; it is something we rehearse daily. It is the steady, bold decision to live as though new life is not only possible, but already breaking in among us. And so, today and every day, may we not only join the church’s rallying cry throughout the ages — “Alleluia! Christ is risen!” — may we practice it too.
Pastor Bart
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