After Easter

The Necessity of the Gathered Community

After the brilliance of “Easter-ing.” After the explosion of multitudinous “Hallelujahs!” After the mystery of the empty tomb. After the otherworldly angelic message that “He has been raised!” What then? What traces are to be drawn? What prayers are to be offered? What steps are to be taken? What consolations are to be experienced?

It is at this point that the church is needed and thus born. To carry on after the supernova of resurrected life we must come together. We cannot carry such “lightness” by ourselves. We will fade into oblivion if we do not hold fast to one another. Hands must be joined. Voices must be combined. Lives must be shared.

“Life together” as Bonhoeffer declared must be our path forward after meeting the resurrected Christ. Only the weight of the gathered community is sufficient to propel us towards the celestial city. After Easter the simple truth is that we need each other. I need you and you need me — as much as the rose needs the fox and the fox its rose in The Little Prince.

We must travel together if we are to carry the burden of both the cross and the empty tomb. It cannot be done alone.

But one might say “I dislike” all of those ornery, narrow minded Christians! I want nothing to do with them. I will forge my own spiritual path. Solitude, silence, a life of quietude is enough for me. I share the longing for a solitary spiritual quest, but solitude is not the same as aloneness. Even Merton in his hermitage joined the weekly gathering in the chapel. We need each other to grow our spiritual muscles. And for that to take place “iron must sharpen iron” or grow dull apart from the honing of community life.

After Easter we must travel and work together in our little ship called “The Church.” We must embrace each other in love and allow it to soften our differences so that we help each other reach the distant shore.

The journey isn’t companionless. It’s communal. Do not flee, timid soul. Be brave and enter the Divine Flock and you will be rewarded with the surprising bounties of a life travelled together.