THANK GOD IT’S TUESDAY!
(Tuesday, July 4)
“…Then God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth’; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the third day.” (Gen 1:11-13)
I love Tuesdays. There is so much hope in this weekday, Tuesday, called The Third Day in Hebrew and in Greek (Shlishi, Trite). On this third day, God willed into being the grass, the trees, and their fruit and seeds, which fall to the ground to bring new life from their death-and-burial in the earth. The mystery of God’s power and will to bring new life from death-and-burial is revealed on The Third Day, and it is again revealed in Christ’s resurrection “on the third day, according to the Scriptures,” as we profess in the Creed.
Let us embrace hope on this 4th of July, even if, or particularly if, we are confronted with deaths or losses, either in our own lives or those of others. Our own big and small “deaths” (the spiritual and physical ones), as well as the “deaths” of others, – even of the plants and trees in our natural world, – hold the promise of new life, when we choose to embrace our common faith, our natural faith, in the One Who from the beginning continuously brings new life from the darkest places. “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Cor 4:6)
