In his book "The New Being" Paul Tillich, a great theologian of the last century, writes that Christians are often overwhelmed by how much thy cannot grasp, how much hey cannot understand. But Tillich makes the point that equally as meaningful for Christians should be the sense they have of how they are grasped, how they are understood by a power and source greater than themselves. TIllich writes: "We may not grasp anything in the depth of our uncertainty, but that we are grasped by something ultimate, which keeps us in its grasp and from which we cannot hide, this remains absolutely certain." That "something ultimate" is our awareness of God. The season of Eastertide (the weeks following Easter in the Christian church) is a time when we acknowledge that the ultimate being that has grasped us is best made known to us in the resurrection of Jesus. In Jesus' resurrection we get the best glimpse possible into the character and power of this force in the universe we call God.

God is the force in control, even when our most profound sense of that force may be  the overwhelming realization that we are not in control. The good news is the character of that force is glimpsed in the resurrection of Jesus. It is overwhelming compassionate, redemptive, personal, power that is good. Holy good.

Even when we are first frightened by it (like the women at the tomb) as we realize that God is at work for the good in this, our fear is turned to joy. Matthew 28: ^{8 "}So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy"

Pastor John