THE (OFTEN) LONG ROAD TO RESURRECTION

The (almost) basis of my theology is quite simple: “Bad things (there’s a vulgar and better euphemism for that) happen. There’s always resurrection.” Bad things happen to each and every one of us. They happen because of our own foolishness. They happen because we are in the wrong place at the wrong time. They happen to us because of another’s action, intended or not. They happen because that is what happens in this life and for which we cannot do anything about.

Bad things happen: loss of health, loss of job, loss of relationship and, finally loss of life. Actually, there are too many to number. Some bad things are worse than others but they are all bad because they hurt in some way: physically, mentally, spiritually and usually a combination of all three. No one of us is exempt. No one!

In spite of it all, there is always resurrection, new life. As believers, resurrection and new life comes after our physical death. What that new life is like, will be like, we have not the foggiest idea. St. Paul tells us that it is unimaginable even as we all try to imagine what heaven is like. Nevertheless, with death, we believe, come resurrection and new life, whatever that life will be like.

But, more importantly, I believe, that is also true about the little deaths we encounter in this life – all those losses that come our way. New life, resurrection, comes from them, always. The problem, of course, is sometimes that road to resurrection is long and difficult. It takes work because it never happens on its own. And sometimes at the end of our suffering comes resurrection and new life through our physical death. And sometimes that is the only way we make our way through the pain.

But in the meantime, between now and then, bad things continue to happen to us. Fortunately, thankfully, they are few and far between. When we are dealing with them, that resurrection to a new life seems like a longtime coming, and often is. We don’t suddenly break a leg and then have it heal immediately. And after the bone is healed, there is still physical therapy to endure, painful physical therapy. But eventually there is new life for us.

It is the same for any bad thing that happens because each one is a loss of something, some part of our life, something that changes our life forever in one way or another. We cannot go back and undo what has happened. We have to live with the result and find a way, with God’s help and the help of others, a new life and resurrection. It’s there for us to obtain, again, probably with hard work.

Don’t believe it? Just take some time to reflect on anything bad, any loss, that has happened in the past and realize the new life that came from it. There’s always resurrection, always, even if the road there is a long journey. Never lose hope.