Love Has Risen – Let Us Carry It Forward

Light breaks through the darkness. Lake Zug, Switzerland
Photo: Karen Curjel

Before the sun had fully risen, Mary of Magdala went to the tomb. It was still dark. That detail from the Gospel of John 20:1-9 has always moved me. Darkness outside, and no doubt within her heart too. Mary was grieving, afraid, and yet she came. She came to be close to Jesus, even if only to weep beside the tomb.

In Finding Nothing, She Found Everything

But the stone had been rolled away. The body was gone. “They have taken the Lord from the tomb,” she says, “and we don’t know where they put him.” Her words reflect deep sadness, confusion, and love. She doesn’t fully understand, but she goes, she runs, she tells.

Running for the Answer

There’s a lot of running in this Gospel. Mary runs to Peter and the other disciple. They run to the tomb, one outrunning the other. It’s as if love can’t wait. Even in their shock and confusion, they hurry toward the place where they last knew Jesus to be. And it’s there, in the emptiness of the tomb, that they begin to understand.

And yet, the Gospel tells us, “they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.”

My Thoughts...

I often wonder what that moment felt like, standing in the empty tomb, not fully understanding, but beginning to sense that something miraculous had happened. It begins not with full understanding, but with wonder. With hearts seeking. With running steps and uncertain faith. Paul’s words to the Colossians (3:1-4) guide us: “If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God… For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

Just The Beginning

Mary’s grief, Peter’s running, the empty tomb on Easter morning: none of it was the end of the story. It was the beginning. Our life is now hidden in Christ, and the resurrection invites us to keep seeking what is above, to rise with him again and again with all of its challenges, its cost, and its quiet power. Living and practicing kindness is a way of living the Resurrection.

Summer Time Activity

This summer, let us not grow weary in doing good. Let kindness be our way of keeping step with the Risen Christ. In a world that often feels hurried, harsh, or uncertain, we can bring the gentle light of his love, with just one word, one act, one small kindness at a time.

The tomb is empty. Love has risen. Let us carry that love forward into long days and warm evenings, into our homes and our streets, into conversations and choices.

May the Risen Lord bring peace to your heart, light to your soul, and a fresh desire to live with kindness.

Karen Curjel