Each day during this directed retreat, we directors have a team meeting, and a different person is responsible for leading the prayer and sharing. Today’s meeting the director with that responsibility shared an excerpt from Joan Chittister’s book In Search of Belief speaking about resurrection and then asked each of us to share an experience of resurrection.
I shared that when I walked past the “lightening tree” on the property, I was reminded of the American Elm on the site of the Oklahoma City bombing memorial. It is called the “Survivor Tree” because it withstood the full force of the attack and there is no earthly reason it is not completely dead and gone. Yet it continues to stand and to grow. I felt its life and its power when I stood touching it during my visit to the site. For me that was an experience of resurrection.
I don’t have a picture of the Survivor Tree, but here is the OshKosh Jesuit Retreat House “lightening tree” – still putting out leaves each year.
As we read in the excerpt from Joan Chittiester before our sharing, “To say ‘I believe in Jesus Christ…who rose from the dead’ is to say I believe that the Resurrection goes on and on and on forever. Every time Jesus rises in our hearts in new ways, the Resurrection happens again.”
Creo en Dios! 