« Salad Bar Success | Main | Packing »
April 8, 2007
Why Are You Looking for the Living Among the Dead?
Y'all know I always write about Easter because a) Easter is my favorite holiday b) the topic of the ressurection of the body just seems so appropriate to a blog about CR.
My mother and I attended the beautiful 9 am Easter service at Riverside Church, one of the great American Protestant cathedrals, in Morningside Heights of New York. It was just amazing... the music, the flowers, the sanctuary itself. The preaching was kinda so-so, but I've heard so much great preaching in my life that I'm way too harsh a judge. My dad and I used to play church critic every Sunday in the car on the way to lunch after service... drove my step-mom crazy. Anyhow, the service was re-vitalizing, and I found myself meditating again upon the life-affirming message of Easter.
As I've written before, my theology is way more complex than a simple, "Adam and Eve sinned so Christ died and now everything is okay," type of Christianity. Honestly, there aren't many Christians I've ever met who would make it as simple as the atheists who like to caricature our belief would like to make it seem. To my mind, it doesn't matter if Christ was resurrected in the flesh or not. The thing that matters is the eternal message of the triumph of life over death, of love and hope over despair.
If I didn't believe in this eventual victory of love over hate, of hope over despair, I definitely couldn't be a union organizer. I'd look at the odds stacked against us and run screaming to a management consulting or investment banking firm. But no, I believe, even when I have to force myself to believe, that there is an eventual victory for the working people of this country who want nothing more than fairness, justice, and a tiny piece of the American dream.
CR, too, is an extension of hope, of belief that life can be better. I know that my life is better now than it was when I was eating ad lib, and I believe that it can be even better. The last few weeks have been very rough on my CR, with all this living on the road, but I continue to find solutions to persistent problems and ways to stay healthy on the road.
This Easter finds me in the middle of many new beginnings. Two new campaigns, with union leaders getting ready to go through the fight of their lives to win a voice for themselves and their fellow nurses on the job. I have the honor of working with some amazing nurses whose example inspires me on a daily basis.
I've added some new folks to my staff, and I love watching them learn and grow. The cycle of death and re-birth is played out once more as I see organizing through their eyes... I remember everything I went through, and I want to protect them but of course I can't... I have to let them face the same kinds of pain I had to face and become their own kind of organizer.
Meanwhile, my dear friends Luke and Christine are expecting their first child in May. They're a bit overwhelmed, but very excited. I'm so looking forward to meeting this human being who will be their child.
MR and I are just as in love as always, but I find myself more than ever being grateful for how perfectly he and I fit together. The organizer and the hermit: perfect together. I need my freedom and my independence, he needs his space. When I'm on the road I call to tell him I'm okay and he takes care of the cats, but he's happy to be alone with his writing and his research, and I'm happy to be in the bubble with my organizer colleagues and my nurses. When I come home it's like we're seeing each other for the first time: he is the most beautiful thing I think I have ever seen, or will ever see. It's been over two years now and I still feel my heartbeat speed up everytime he walks into the room. Every line of his face, every curve of his skinny body strikes me as the uttermost perfection. We've been through a lot together, and he's stood by me through some huge struggles, but we're happier than ever.
So this Easter I return to Christ's tomb, but I've read ahead in the story and I know that I will not find him there. He is Risen. He is gone to spread love and joy and hope throughout the world, along with the prophets and wise men and women of many religions and traditions.
It's been a hard year, and in may ways, it's been a horrible year. The extremely difficult campaign this time last year, the lack of vacation or rest time, the stress of that New York mag article and the kerfuffle that ensued, buying a house, moving, my mom's illness, training new staff and doing the work of four or five people because I work for a small organization that can't afford to hire tons of people but only hires the best... it's been an adventure. But I can honestly say that on this Easter day I am happier than I have ever been, I am filled with hope, and I send out prayers and love and joy to all of my bloggiefriends who have been with me through the journey.
May the peace of the risen Christ be with you now and always.
Posted by april at April 8, 2007 3:58 PM
Comments
April,
That was just lovely. I know the church that you went to well..even if it was ages ago. I spent my first three years of life on Riverside Drive. We then moved uptown (all the way to the Bronx!) but we visited friends (& that church) quite often in the years to come!
I too was fairly overwhelmed by our Easter Service. What really does it for me on Easter is the mass of people celebrating. The place was filled to the rafters and the choir & music was fantastic. To me, this adds tremendously to the beauty of the message. I teared up of course and my family just smiled knowingly at me since they've seen this happen before.
To be filled with hope is a wonderful way to live ones life.
Take care always,
Deborah
Posted by: Deborah at April 9, 2007 6:59 AM
What a beautiful post. Thanks so much, April. Happy Easter to you and MR and all the rest!
Posted by: carolyn at April 9, 2007 8:29 AM
what an inspirational message. Thank you.
Posted by: bethsheba at April 11, 2007 9:17 AM