Readings: Luke 24:13-35, Secrets of Heaven #7082 (see below)
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This story of Jesus and his followers on the Road to Emmaus is a story that is full of feeling. It is one that we can easily imagine ourselves in. Perhaps we recognize the disappointment of Cleopas and his friend from our own experience. Perhaps we are comforted and amused by the casual back and forth between them and Jesus. Perhaps we remember times when our own hearts burned with a sense of call, of meaning, or of purpose.

There is something very powerful in the way that this story connects the experiences of disappointment and love, something that echoes the resurrection itself, but specifically at the level of the human heart. 

First, in the disappointment, we can resonate with these two Jesus followers, so deeply shaken and turned-around by the events of the crucifixion. They had invested so much of themselves into Jesus and his teaching. They had expectations of a long-awaited fulfilment, one that would bring their people freedom and renewal. They walked along the road together, processing all that had happened, a support group of two. Perhaps we can remember times when we have done the same, going over events in our mind, trying to figure out what went wrong, or what we could have done differently. Trying to understand the reality of loss, trying to make sense of something that feels unfair or unjust, trying to reconcile why people didn’t see what we could see, trying to discern how to keep on going within circumstances we didn’t anticipate.

They must have felt so lost. It is acutely painful to hope and to be disappointed. For the pain of such a loss is mixed with confusion and shame and disillusionment. Thank goodness Cleopas and his friend had each other. 

Then, into this experience of disappointment comes Jesus. The metaphor of Jesus walking along the road with them, and with us, in this experience is a truly comforting one. Jesus asked them about their experience, even though he surely knew it. He let them tell him of their hopes, fears, disappointment, and he listened, he companioned them in it. This alone is powerful. 

Yet, he also challenged them. They might have had expectations about what Jesus would do politically for the nation of Israel but Jesus had always been clear that his purposes were larger than that. He had always been clear that he would have to die in order to show humanity the depth of God’s solidarity with us, and the power life over death, good over evil, love over hate. Jesus challenged the way they were seeing the story, helped them to let go of the pieces that were holding them back and started them on a new way of thinking, one that would ultimately bring them healing.

Which brings me to the second powerful feeling highlighted in the text today: love. Now of course, the bible speaks of love all the time. But this particular text gets inside the experience of it in a particular way. After they had eventually recognized Jesus, they recalled how their hearts were burning within them as he spoke. I suspect this language is one of the reasons this is a beloved and oft-quoted story: because it describes a deeply human experience of emotion. The language of burning is intense and we often use hyperbole when words are just not quite enough. Cleopas and his friend really felt something that day, something powerful and growing and mysterious. Yet, this story is not only the experience of emotion itself. It is about emotion, specifically love, as a gateway to spiritual growth.

Our tradition is often considered somewhat intellectual. Our guiding theologian wrote a lot of books, just so many words upon words. And we have always understood faith to be something that has to make sense to our intellectual mind. Swedenborg always railed against the notion of people being told that they just “have to believe” things that don’t make sense to them. He thought that to be a dangerously manipulative tool wielded by powerful people and systems, and so he always uplifted each person’s freedom to decide what to believe according to what makes sense to them personally. So we have a strong tradition of trying to understand, of asking questions, and of on-going reflection. You can join us for our Journey of Faith discussion group after coffee hour to experience that side of the tradition.

But despite his many thousands of written words, despite his scientific training and turn of mind, Swedenborg also recognized that love is always at the center of everything. It is the center and essence of the Divine; it is what flows into us human beings to give us life, it is the root of our willing action, it is the motivator of the mind, it is the shaper of our lives.

And therefore, so much of our spiritual work is to open ourselves to love. Yes, we reflect and we discern about the best ways to do that, we untangle our traumas and our beliefs, we settle on values and perspectives that give us meaning, and we determine useful action and structure that reflects it all. And then we need to make space.

For, our doing lives can only take us so far. And the “doing” of useful action is our job in this life to a certain extent because what we do really matters to ourselves and to others. And yet, “doing” that comes from ourselves, even with the best of intentions, leaves us open to disappointment, resentment, anxiety, overwhelm, and burn-out. The next step, the next evolution in all our doing, even all our most wonderful doing that takes care of the world and others and ourselves, the next step is to make space for the inflow of God within it. To let God start the fire in our hearts and keep it burning, to let God’s love flow in with a worthiness, purpose and meaning that supports doing but is not created by doing. To cultivate the experience of the Road to Emmaus in our everyday. To let God walk with us, and in that companionship be open to the inflow of God’s love and the way it sets our hearts aglow.

It’s hard to remember that this next step is possible when we are in the midst of disappointment, resentment, anxiety, overwhelm, disillusionment or whatever challenges show up for us. And so we have stories like this one, stories that remind us that we are not alone on the road of life, stories that encourage us to listen to each other, to reframe our perspectives, to  be open to learning what our hearts can teach us, to remind us to keep walking because God is walking with us.

This week I was encouraged by these words from the writer Sarah Bessey:

I’m going to live as if everything will actually be made right someday and justice will prevail, tears will be wiped away and every exile will lead the dancing. Oh, I’m going to live my life like God is trustworthy. I’ll act like the underdog of love always comes from behind to win by total upset. I’m going to say yes to the possibilities of participating in the renewal of all things even when they wear very small, ordinary disguises….I’ll keep loving this world until it breaks my heart and then I’ll sit in the pieces, holding onto love.(1)

Cleopas and his friend were walking along with broken hearts that day. They loved their small piece of their world in the way they understood it and it broke their heart. And Jesus came along to resurrect their hearts the way that he had resurrected his body. In wonder they said, were not our hearts burning within us when he walked with us on the road? Those hearts that were broken only moments ago? Yes, the very same.

I’ll keep loving this world until it breaks my heart and then I’ll sit in the pieces, holding onto love. Bessey (as borrowed from Wendell Berry) calls this “practicing resurrection.” Friends, wherever we are on the road, let us practice resurrection by anticipating its reality, let us make space within our hearts for the rising of our God. Amen.

(1) Sarah Bessey's Field Notes, April 13th, 2026

​Readings:

Luke 24:13-35
On the Road to Emmaus
13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.
14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.
15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them;
16 but they were kept from recognizing him.
17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”They stood still, their faces downcast.
18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
19 “What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.
20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him;
21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.
22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning
23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive.
24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”
27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther.
29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.
31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.
32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together
34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.”
35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

Secrets of Heaven 7082

There are two elements in the physical world that create life there, and they are warmth and light. There are also two elements in the spiritual world that create life there, and they are love and faith. The physical phenomenon of warmth corresponds to the spiritual phenomenon of love, and the physical phenomenon of light corresponds to the spiritual phenomenon of faith. That is why “spiritual warmth” or “spiritual fire” means love, and “spiritual light” means faith. What is more, love actually is the vital heat in us, and people recognize that love makes us warm. Faith actually is the light we see by, and people can recognize that faith enlightens us.

Readings: Luke 10:25-37, Secrets of Heaven #133 & #9874[3] (see below)
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Today I want to introduce you to one of my favorite Easter children’s stories: The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes. I cannot tell you how many times I read this book as a child. It is a sweet, whimsical, and moving story, that is surprisingly feminist for being written in 1939.

It begins with a little country bunny who is wishing she could grow up to be one of the Easter Bunnies. One of - yes - in this story, there are five special bunnies to deliver all the easter eggs to all the children of the world, and they are the wisest, kindest, and swiftest of all the bunnies. 

Most of the fancy bunnies made fun of the country bunny’s aspirations, and while she didn’t lose hope, over time she did grow up and have a family. Suddenly one day though, it is announced that it is time for one of the Easter bunnies to retire. All the hopeful bunnies assembled at the house of old, wise, kind Grandfather Bunny to audition, and Mother Cottontail showed up with her 21 children to see the festivities. The fancy bunnies did their best to convince Grandfather bunny they were right for the job, but while they were able to prove they were pretty and fast, they had not proven they were wise and kind. 

At last, Grandfather bunny’s gaze landed on Mother Cottontail, and he invited her to come forward. As she spoke of her family, and they way all the children helped her and each other, Grandfather bunny was convinced that she was wise and kind, and when she ordered her children to scatter, and she chased after them and returned them quickly, she also proved she was swift. Grandfather Bunny appointed her to be the newest Easter bunny.

Mother Cottontail spent the next night delivering Easter eggs all over the world, with her fellow Easter Bunnies. Towards the end of the night, Grandfather Bunny gave her a very special task: to deliver an Easter egg to a sick child who lived on top of a high mountain. Mother Cottontail was surprised and a little intimidated but couldn’t bear for a such brave child to be forgotten, so she set out. She made it almost to the top of the mountain but at the last minute lost her footing, and fell all the way to the bottom. When she tried to stand, she found that she had sprained her ankle. To her dismay, the sun was starting to rise, and she would not be able to make it. 

Suddenly, Grandfather Bunny appeared and told her that in addition to being wise, kind and swift, that she was also very brave. He gave her a pair of little golden shoes, and once she put them on, she could bound up the mountain in just two jumps. She slipped inside the house to deliver the egg to the child, and then bounded home to her own children. They were safe and sound; all of them had taken care of the house and each other. And from that day forward, the little gold shoes would hang on a hook in Mother Cottontail’s house, to be used again each Easter to bring joy to the children of the world.

Now, apart from the obvious Easter theme, why would I choose to preach on this story today? Certainly because I love this story and always will, but also because of the way it grounds us in the same kinds of virtues that we see time and time again in the Bible, and in particular, from Jesus. 

Grandfather Bunny was looking for bunnies who were wise, kind, and swift, and for the most important tasks, bunnies who were brave. What else are *we* doing here at church, other than trying to learn how to be wise, kind, brave, and swift to help? For Swedenborgians, this trio of being wise, kind and swift, immediately echoes the trinity of aspects that we see in God, and that we try to cultivate within ourselves - Wisdom, Love, and Usefulness, and of course, the courage that it takes to steadfastedly live them out in life.

I chose the story of the Good Samaritan today because it is one where we can see someone being wise, kind, swift and brave in service to others. We heard in our reading that a traveler was beset by bandits and left for dead in the road. A priest and a Levite both went by without helping him. But finally, a Samaritan (meaning someone of a tribe of people to the north of Judea and the south of Galilee) stopped and rendered aid.

This Samaritan was wise in that he saw what was needed and he did that. He took care of the most urgent things first - disinfected and bandaged the man’s wounds. Then he placed the man on his donkey and took him to the nearest inn, in order to keep them both out of further danger and continue his immediate care throughout the night. Then, when he needed to leave, he provided provision for the man’s further care. Wisdom assessed the situation, and continued assessing it as needed, showing flexibility according to context. 

How was the Samaritan kind? It seems obvious of course, in that he stopped where others had not. As we dig a little deeper though, we have to recognize the context that might have prevented him from acting. Jews and Samaritans shared a deep mutual contempt going back many hundreds of years. They were in fact, the same people, and worshiped the same God, but had diverged on what where they should worship, and some other disagreements. Over time, these differences grew into an intractable hatred. Perhaps this sounds familiar - for it is a very human occurance. This was at the heart of the question to Jesus: And who is my neighbor? We get the sense that it was asked with the hidden question: who am I allowed to ignore? who am I allowed to say is NOT my neighbor? Jesus’ answer was essentially: no one. 

And the Greek word used in v.33 illuminates things even further. It is splanchnizomai (v.33), which means means a compassion felt viscerally, in the gut. It invokes the deep empathy that can drive us to care for our fellow human beings, and acknowledgment of how in herently connected, regardless of context. Jesus is making clear that this intuitive connective empathy should guide our actions. Kindness to people to look like us, sound like us, believe like us, is not sufficient. We don’t actually get to decide who is an isn’t our neighbor.

Did the Samaritan move swiftly? Was he swift to act? Yes, indeed he was. The Samaritan was swift in his initial response. He was moved, and then he acted with wisdom. Yet, he wasn’t swift to depart, and when he did, he made provision. We see a swiftness in the beginning, when it was warranted, and a steadiness that continued the injured man’s care. Sometimes quickness, being first, being fast, can be lauded in our culture in a way that makes no space for accountability. Move fast and break things has been considered a desirable business strategy by prominent CEOs. But it is an immature one. We see in the story a deft demonstration of the power of both being swift and being steadfast, according to need.

And was the Samaritan brave? I think so. The road from Jerusalem to Jericho was notoriously dangerous, which was why Jesus used it as an illustration. Stopping to help put the Samaritan in danger as well, for there was no guarantee the robbers were no longer nearby. This took physical courage. Yet, even futher, there was the social danger that comes from crossing lines in the sand that everyone seemingly agrees with. What would the Samaritan’s family and peers have thought of this actions? What would the inn keeper have thought? Would he experience repercussions? Would he need to explain himself? This is a quieter kind of courage but no less important. For who knows what benefit his example might bring, as it quietly loosens one small strand of habitual prejudice. 

So in this familiar Bible story, we see the virtues of being wise, kind, swift, and brave, just as in the story of the Country Bunny. And after the week we have had, a week in which the President of our own United States threatened another civilization with destruction, perhaps this all talk of these virtues seems too much like a fairytale? Why focus on a children’s story today? Because I believe that the stories we tell shape us deeply. Whether they are bible stories, or other stories, our stories have the power to create meaning, communicate values, and suggest action. When we are being told stories about how we, or our country, or our religion, must dominate, must “win”, must control, must care only about ourselves, when we are told that this what we deserve, this is what we are owed, this is the only way, then we will become we will become people embody those ideas.

But if our stories tell of people caring for one other, tell of people being wise, kind, swift and brave, tell of one person taking a rish to help another, then we have a chance of embodying those virtues instead. We’ll still do it imperfectly. But it matters what we aspire to.

In our tradition, when encountered in the Bible, gold always represents the goodness of love, the inherent way that love creates goodness, simply the essence, the purpose of love. How appropriate then, that the County Bunny was given shoes of gold, and these shoes gave her the power to do her work of bringing joy to others. They provided her with the power to literally jump towards others, to cross the distance between people. With whatever constitues our own golden shoes in this world, Jesus tells us “Go and do likewise.”

Amen.

Readings:

Luke 10:25-37
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ ; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.
31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.
32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.
34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.
35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Secrets of Heaven #133
Nothing is more common in the Word than for the good that belongs to wisdom or else to love to be meant and represented by 'gold'. All the gold of the Ark, the Temple, the golden table, the lampstands, the vessels, and on Aaron's vestments, meant and represented good that belongs to wisdom or else to love.

Secrets of Heaven 9874[3]
The truth that this good is the good of love that is received from the Lord and shown to the Lord may be recognized from the consideration that all good belongs to love, for what a person loves they call good and also feel to be such. From this it is evident that heavenly good is the good of love to the Lord, for this love is what joins angel and people to the Lord; through this love they are brought to God and enjoy all the good of heaven.

Readings: Isaiah 42:5-9, John 20:1-18, Secrets of Heaven #842[3] (see below)
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This tender depiction of easter morning will always be one of my favorites from the gospels. It is a story with its heart in its throat. Who cannot relate to Mary Magdalene’s confusion and grief in this story? Perhaps we can do so especially in these days. Perhaps we feel as if we are figuratively outside that empty tomb right now, eyes blurred with tears, as we encounter an increase in injustice all around us. Perhaps we might be wondering: Where are you, my God? Where have you gone? Are you still here with us? What are we supposed to do now?

What I notice especially this year, is the joy and relief with which Mary addresses Jesus as her teacher. For this is what he had been to her: a guide, an inspiration, a loving corrective, and a compassionate companion. We need this in our own lives too.

And so, as we look to the many things in our lives that teach us, we also look to this text, the story of Easter morning. What is it that we can learn from it?

We learn that Jesus, our God in human form, endured a painful and humiliating death and rose again, alive. This is indeed an incredible occurance. But the deeper question is what does it teach us? For I don’t believe its purpose is to teach us to believe in an incredible thing that once happened. It’s purpose is to help us believe in a pattern of God’s care and intention.

A pattern that communicates the reality of suffering but also the overcoming of it. A pattern that communicates God’s ability to create newness where there appears there can be none. A pattern that communicates God’s willingness to be present with us in it all.

I don’t know about you, but I need to hear these three things right now. I need teachers of all kinds to teach me these things over and over again, for I repeatedly forget. Our fear makes us forget, our shame makes us forget, our despair and overwhelm makes us forget. 

But while the remembering can be freeing, getting there is not always pleasant. Mary was devastated outside that tomb, in those moments she was lost and floundering, everything that she was expecting had been shattered. She was in a moment that would ask her to see in a new way, but that also would ask her to let go.

As we heard in our reading earlier, there is as teaching in our tradition that clarity often first requires a time of confusion or seeming chaos. That to reach a sense of what is real and true, many of our assumptions will need to be shaken apart. That in order to know what we truly believe, we first have to question and doubt. That in order to create something good, we have to be willing to see what our true obstacles are.

This is one of those teachings that I both love and hate. I love it because I know that it is true. I have experienced the clarity that comes after the storm, as I’m sure we all have at some point. But I am also super grumpy (and honestly a bit heart-broken) about having to go through the chaos at all. Why should this have to be so? Why should chaos (which can often translate in the real world as suffering) be a pre-requisite for clarity? 

So we can choose, and in choosing, create our selfhood from within. The resurrection points to us to new life, yes, but not just for Jesus. The resurrection points us to the new life that is being re-created within us each time we brave the chaos and come out on the other side with new resolve, new clarity, and new understanding, of ourselves and who we are called to be.

And yet, the chaos is not an abstract, intellectual thing. As we note painfully today and throughout history, chaos can have real consequences. The necessary revealing of obstacles to growth, such as self-serving assumptions, dangerous prejudices, unfair expectations can wreak havoc on both our emotional lives and the world stage upon which they play.

The resurrection was never meant to erase the crucifixion. The resurrection teaches us that yes, human frailty will create suffering, human frailty will create systems that perpetuate suffering. The necessity of our basic human freedom to make choices must allow this to be so. But our human frailty is not all that can be. It does not get to have the last word. And in fact, the very chaos that human frailty causes can also serve to shake us awake, can cause us to wipe the tears from our eyes as Mary did, and see God right in front of us, a God embodying our own resurrected and transformed humanity.

Jesus kept telling his disciples that he was going to die, and in fact, needed to, for a greater purpose. Even now, I can tell you that my heart resists this teaching. I understand why the disciples said no no no, every time. No one, not even Jesus, should have to do that - there should be no such need. And yet, there was a need. In order to have the freedom to choose God, to choose goodness, to choose love, and have that choice count for something, we have to be able to choose the opposite. And we do. Often. That is the story of Good Friday, a painful dark story that is still enacted in life and in hearts and minds, even now. That is the story of Holy Saturday, a day filled with confusion, mourning, and disappointed hopes.

And yet, what do we see Mary doing on the morning of what we now call Easter but to her was just the day after the Sabbath? In the gospel of Luke we are told that she went to annoint the body of her beloved teacher, she showed up to do the next most loving thing, even in the midst of her grief.

Which brings us to another teaching: that the thing that ultimately brings order to chaos is goodness and love.(1) We are invited to focus on, and center ourselves in, the practice, the ethos, and the *strategy* of love, and the goodness that love creates for all. As chaos swirls, and we experience the suffering and the heart-break of it, we are invited to see the on-going potential for resurrection in it. To see the on-going potential for resurrection that *we* can choose to both participate in and create.

Jesus was not in the tomb, he was alive in the garden, and Mary called him Teacher, for he was teaching her still. Jesus was teaching his followers the whole time, not just in parables, not just in healings, but also in the chaos of losing him, and then seeing the life that came from that loss. And in doing so, Jesus was enacting a larger pattern of God’s care and intention. 

God has given us the freedom to create chaos and suffering if we so choose. What an enormous gift of love, to give us the fullness of that responsibility, an awful and awesome one. We will fail in it, and we have. Friends, we crucified the literal embodiment of God! And yet in response, that God took that moment of complete failure and transformed it into something that can teach us, something that can give us hope, something that tells us about how much God believes in us and loves us.

So let us rest this morning in three of the things that Easter can teach us: there is suffering and yet there is also the overcoming of it. God can and will create newness where there appears there can be none. And above all, that God’s deepest desire is to be present with us in it all. 

Amen.

1. Emmanuel Swedenborg, Secrets of Heaven #3316


Readings:

Isaiah 42:5-9

5 This is what God the LORD says— the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: 6 “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. 8 “I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols. 9 See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.”

John 20:1-18

1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). 17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Secrets of Heaven #842[3]

Before being reduced to order, it is very common for everything to fall into confusion or seeming chaos. This allows things that cling together poorly to separate, and when they have separated, the Lord arranges them in their place.

Nature offers parallels, since in it too each and every thing first falls into some degree of disorder before being put in order. If the skies did not storm, causing unlike elements to scatter, the air would never clear; destructive forces would amass and wreak havoc.