Easter Quote: John Dear on Resurrection

Too often we make the resurrection of Jesus into an abstract concept, something that really only affects some heavenly realm, rather than a concrete reality, ready to be played out and implemented in reality. John Dear, a Jesuit Priest, believes in a resurrection that it very real, one that will affect our ethics and our politics if we believe it. With Easter quickly approaching, it's only appropriate to pause and think about just what it is we're preparing to celebrate and what that celebration means for us. Here's a quote from a guy who gets it:

"...The resurrection was illegal. Jesus committed civil disobedience when
he rose from the dead. The Roman soldiers guarded the tomb to make sure he
stayed dead, but once again, Jesus broke the imperial laws of death. The
Nonviolent Jesus has risen above injustice, poverty, and violence. He is risen
despite war. Executed himself, he is risen from the death penalty. Christ is
risen beyond the power of nuclear weapons, racism, sexism, starvation, global
warming, and violence itself. Christ is risen above the culture of death. A bold
announcement--and we're called to prove it. We prove it with the boldness of our
own lives, our faith, our nonviolent resistance to the forces of death. Which is
to say, we must share the peacemaking life of the risen Jesus. We must confront
death and it's metaphors. For we too are headed for resurrection--our survival
is already guaranteed. We're free to live beyond the culture of death. We're
free to reject violence and poverty and war. We're free to confront the ROTC,
Los Alamos, and the Pentagon. We're free to dismantle nuclear weapons. We prove
we're resurrection people by putting down our swords and beating them into
plowshares. By loving our enemies. By carrying on Jesus' work of nonviolent
resistance against systemic injustice. By speaking out against the insane U.S.
war on Iraq. And by persisting despite the obstacles, the opposition, and the
apparent futility, knowing that the outcome, in God's hands, is assured." _John Dear (Put Down Your Sword, page 18.)