Unless it was what she called him my Teacher -the old name she used to call him. Maybe he could hear it in her voice, how she wanted him back the way he was so they could go back to the way they were back to the old life where everything was familiar and not frightening like now. The Easter truth that Mary encountered is an unnatural truth. For what could be more startling than to hunt the past and discover the future, to seek a corpse and find a risen Lord. None of this is natural.
Death is natural.
Loss is natural. Grief is natural. But you and I belong to that long line of people who have come to believe that however great the mystery, those stones have been rolled away this happy morning, rolled away to reveal a highly unnatural truth. By the light of this day, God has planted a seed of life in us that enables us to go on, banishing our fears, and changing our world. The only thing we cannot do is hold on to him.