The Other Easter

Last week was Easter, in case you didn't know that.  I would like credit because I was paying attention and I learned something new.  I didn't realize that Mark ended the story so abruptly.  That isn't how all the Sunday School stories and traditional retelling end.  Nicely wrapped up, joyous exclamations of, "He is risen!"  Easter is what defines us as Christians, we need to celebrate, right? 

 Although Mark encourages us to believe first, then to seek, the ending of his version of the crucifixion and resurrection is open-ended, uncomfortable, lacking closure and reassurance.  His telling is full of metaphors - the stone that blocks our way, running away in fear, the women doing work that is traditional and expected, the command from the angel that emphasizes the need for believers to carry on the work...  I am sure that anyone of us can find personal meaning in the symbols and what they represent.

But it seems to me that Easter is fundamentally different for Mark from my traditional understanding.  It isn't about the miraculous reappearances of the risen Christ, as recounted in the other Gospels.  It is about the execution of a fully human God.  It is about the work that still needs to be done - both the traditional, expected work of living and the work with which Jesus charges us.  It is about going out and finding our way.  It is about pursuing a relationship with God.  And it is about the message, or maybe it is the promise, of the angel at the tomb - you will see Him.  But first you have to seek him.