If I thought that when you strip it right down to the bone, this whole religion business is really just an affirmation of the human spirit, an affirmation of moral values, or an affirmation of Jesus as the Great Exemplar of all time and no more, then like Pilate I would wash my hands of it. He got up, and he said, Don t be afraid. He said, Feed my sheep. He said, Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Death is not the end.
Love is the victor.
Christ our Lord has risen . I can t explain it either, but by faith, I know that in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have the promise of victory and the hope of glory. But still, like dust, I rise. You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I rise. Out of the huts of history s shame I rise.