The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptised, you will be baptised” Mark 10:39

He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Matthew 28:6

The empty tomb and the folded gravecloths

‘He is not here, he is risen’. jesus’ leaving behind his folded gravecloths provides a poignant goodbye and hello. Jesus says ‘hello’ to the next stage in his own journey, strides towards a new life, a new space, for him. The resurrected man continues with his wounds, carries the marks of his death forward.

We follow in his wake, drinking his cup, being baptised into his death and raised into a new life. His pattern is now our pattern in life, ushering us to and across various thresholds with guides, rituals and images. Guides such as remember oneness, let go and say hello. Associated rituals such as bread and wine, the prone Jesus image in La Pieta, and the image of the empty tomb and folded gravecloths can play their part in practically meditatively moving us on and towards a new stage and shape to our lives.