The Call of the Paschal Mystery

The Call of the Paschal Mystery

Passover and Easter are almost here. Not only is it time to think of gaily colored eggs, the paschal lamb, and the glories of spring, but also to consider the mystery that surrounds this most sacred time of the year.

The paschal lamb is sacrificed to enable survival—the continuation of life, just as the Christ makes the choice to allow Himself to be sacrificed on Calvary.

There is a mystery in this, something that is hard for humans to understand because we think we are isolated and separate.

The fact is that we are not alone which leads to the fact that God desires man and likewise man desires God or whatever you want to call It. Humans are part of the mystery.

Paschal Lamb with the banner symbolising Christ’s resurrection. Stained Glass, Anglican cathedral at Guildford, Surrey, England.
– Photo by Akoliasnikoff

The funny thing is that we rarely think in terms of the Divine Who also desires us. There is a journey to be made to comprehend the awe and wonder of the mystery of the desire of God. Passover and Easter beckon us to make that journey.

Before humans can understand the mystery they have to live out many difficulties and problems over many lifetimes and work them out. This is obedience.

Then they must pass to the next stage which is the spiritual stage. Those who have gained wisdom from their problems are in this stage.

They have attained a degree of spirituality and seek, in both religious and livingness terms, to move beyond, not only beyond narrow, myopic dogma, but into inclusiveness and universality.

Many people now claim to have passed beyond narrow and confining religious dogma to belief in spirituality.

What is spirituality really other than the willingness to be open to the will of God, Christ, Buddha, or Yahweh, to recognize the human desire for God and to seek it and know simultaneously the Divine’s desire is for us? Imagine the many levels of reality that includes!

Perhaps what is most needed in this impasse between man and God is vision–human vision–that singular ability to look at situations and people squarely, to compromise if necessary, to cooperate, to share self, to envision and make a constant attempt to live out a divine Reality on Earth and drink deeply of the skirmishes and heavy problems that life brings.

That is to truly live into the agony of the problems of life, a reorientation so complete as to bring about an ecstasy of wholeness.

In the singular and mysterious inner space of Passover and Easter, we come full circle into the potentiality of obedience through our willingness and openness to experience pain and loss and finally find that there is a purpose for sacrifice. It is wholeness!

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© 2014, Rebecca Field