April 2026

At Easter, we see God’s power on full display.  Miracle of miracles!

Looking at the Easter narrative more carefully, we see greater nuance to the power of God.  On the road to Emmaus, Jesus walks and talks with two disciples, talking about all the things that have been happening.  Somehow, they do not recognize Jesus until he breaks bread with them.  At that point, they exclaim, “Were not our hearts burning within us?”

When Mary Magdalene finds the stone rolled away at Jesus’ tomb, she experiences shock, grief, and confusion.  We can almost feel Mary’s joy as Jesus calls out to her: “Mary!” and she realizes this gardener is her beloved teacher and friend!

When Jesus displays God’s power through miracles, he doesn’t tell the disciples to spread the news widely.  “Tell no one,” he says.

At Easter each year, I am reminded of the delusion of power in our world.  Jesus invites us to be “in the world but not of it.”  The “world” thinks to find happiness by an ever-increasing accumulation of power, profits, and things.

There’s nothing bad with food or clothing, as Jesus counsels: “Your heavenly father knows you need all these things…” (Matthew 6).  Jesus is simply inviting us to put things in their proper perspective. 

When things come first for us, then we will do just about everything to get more.  Violence, exclusion, and making ourselves taller by cutting off other’s heads are all in the realm of possibility.

Jesus’ counsel to put God’s kingdom (and not things) first is to remember that connection and love are the heart of this kingdom.  We are one body, as St. Paul writes poetically in his first letter to the Corinthians (Chapter 12).  When we harm another, we harm ourselves.  The nature of God, like the nature of the body, is interconnectedness.

In this way, God’s power is made perfect in love.  In another letter, Paul says God’s power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12: 9). 

If the nature of God is connectedness, then the power of God is made real through beloved community.   In our world overrun by isolation, separateness, and an obsession with power, followers of Jesus make known a different relationship with power.  Quoting Jimi Hendrix, the world will know peace through the power of love, not the love of power.

In the next month, we invite you to experience connection and beloved community at two Bethany House day retreats.  April 25, Robert Forman will explore how to rediscover Christianity as a living mystical path at our Reimagining Christianity as a Mystical Pathway retreat. The Practice of Spiritual Accompaniment retreat May 2 is a time for prayer, contemplation, and a communal spiritual practice called “Clearness Committees” to help us discern God’s direction in our lives.

The miracle of Easter is not just as a one-time event, but resurrection as a practice, each day, each season, choosing connection over isolation, prioritizing love over fear.  May we practice resurrection together.

In peace and gratitude,

Rev. Matt Carriker and LaToya Staine Carriker