fifty days of easter

a longing
for genuine transformation
will always lead us
to death’s door
again and again

what a crazy design
we must die
in order to be raised
paschal mystery 

the old
must be
out of the way
to make space
for the new
to take shape
within us

one cannot truly begin
without the other ending
release comes
before receive

after all
it is difficult
to receive the new
when our hands are still
so full of the old

and why is dying

such a necessary part
of this process 

maybe because
without dying
there can be
no resurrection

and resurrection
is really the point
being raised, that is,
not raising ourselves

being raised

by the giver of life
breathing his breath
into our deadness
and bringing us
to life once again
in a new form

that is not new
at all 

to him