First Glorious Mystery – the Resurrection
This mystery recalls a time of great sorrow and at the same time great hope – a reliving of the paschal mystery in my life. Our marriage was crumbling after 36 years of what I had thought was a good marriage – how could I be so blind? The soul searching and unraveling of our life together brought painful truth into the light, but with the anguish came a new and deeper relationship with the Lord, and the promise of new life in Him.
As I was trying to process the struggle we were experiencing, I took a few days to go up to our cabin in the North Woods. On the drive, I listened to a tape by Paula D’Arcy, which spoke of her journey to a deeper trust and surrender to the Lord. She related the story of her family’s kitchen table, made of sturdy oak, and always there, like an anchor for the family. She did her homework there, ate there, entertained friends there – it was at the heart of the family life. Then she had a dream, and in the dream the table vanished. When she awoke, she recognized the dream as a call for a deeper surrender and reliance on God alone. The title of the tape was about the second half of the Christian life – the first half has a solid structure, like the table, and the second half calls for the removal of that structure, and total dependence on God. It was a good message for me to hear, and I thanked God for sending me the tape.
When I got to the cabin, I went for a walk back to a little lake in the woods. When I turned a bend approaching the lake, I stopped short. A huge oak tree, which had been there forever, lay broken and fallen on the ground. I had climbed that tree as a child; our four children had each climbed it in their turn; there was even a photo us sitting at its base on my refrigerator at home. I went closer to look, and found that the tree was hollow, just as our marriage seemed to be.
I cried, and then I smiled, recognizing God’s hand and timing. He had prepared my heart on the way north with the tape, and now he was showing me this fallen oak tree. Surely He knew every detail of our lives, and He would be with both of us through this present turbulent journey.
When I got back to the cabin, I opened the Bible and this verse jumped out at me: Isaiah 6:13 “…he will be like the stump of an oak tree that has been cut down. The stump represents a new beginning for God’s people.” The Bible at the cabin was a different translation than my one at home; the wording of this version was a perfect gift from God to me.
It’s been a difficult road, but the image of the oak tree remains with me as a sign of God’s care and hope for the future. God promises new life and resurrection glory; I’m experiencing that more and more as I put all my trust in Him…
Lord God, thank You for preparing my heart and giving me the strength to endure the trials of life. May my trust in You grow stronger each day, that I may be a witness to Your faithfulness and mercy, and experience the power of Your Resurrection ~
(Re-visit from Rosary Reflections, First Glorious Mystery)
Spiritual Sun Pennies 