new church life : march / april 2017
cocoons in which they were “ entombed ,” but their resurrection was in imitation of His , not the other way around . The Lord is the Archetype of all archetypes , and His Resurrection is re-enacted in all resurrections .
The Christian celebration of the Lord ’ s Resurrection was prefigured in pagan rites celebrating the spring equinox because the order of nature itself , which inspired the pagans , represents the spiritual order of human life established by nature ’ s Divinely Human Creator . Resurrection is an integral part of that order .
Our Easter story , therefore , is not just an embellishment or overlay tacked onto myths , but completes those ancient stories , which are variations on themes impressed upon the human mind by revelation , by its echoes in myth and fable , and also by the forms and patterns of the natural world because it comes from and corresponds to the spiritual world .
The theme of death and resurrection pervades the cosmos . It is repeated in the death and birth of stars , the phases of the moon , the ebb and flow of the tide , the wearing down and building up of land .
The leafing out of the trees in the springtime is an emblem of resurrection , as is every green shoot that arises from a seed . The Lord , in preparing His disciples for His death , said : “ Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies , it remains alone ; but if it dies , it produces much grain .” ( John 12:23-25 )
Resurrection is a recurring motif in human history also . When a civilization declines and falls , the spiritual ideals and principles that gave it life may be revived in a new civilization .
The creation story in Genesis – a Divine allegory of a person ’ s spiritual creation or regeneration – progresses through alternating states of “ evening ” and “ morning .” As each day wears on we labor to bring whatever love and enlightenment we have gained into the uses of life , spiritual and natural .
In the process we undergo temptation and lapse into an evening state again , but each step in overcoming evil and falsity is followed by a new day , a new stage in the renewal of spiritual life with us ; a step closer to the Lord , “ the Dayspring from on high .”
Regeneration takes us through a lifelong series of mini-deaths and miniresurrections ( as we might call them ). And so , little by little , the old , natural proprium dies and is put off , and a new , heavenly proprium is raised up . “ Whoever loses his life for My sake will find it .” ( Matthew 16:25 )
As we look back over the course of our lives , all the states that we ’ ve been through , good and bad , happy and sad , can we not see that the Lord has been with us continually , little by little raising us up into new life ? “ He rises daily , indeed every single moment , in the minds of regenerate persons .” ( Arcana Coelestia 2405.8 )
The miracle of Easter , then , is not just the story of something that
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