Becoming Real: 40 Days with the Velveteen Rabbit

Day 39 – Good Friday – 2nd April 2010

 

To Read:

And he found that he actually had hind legs!  Instead of dingy velveteen he had brown fur, soft and shiny, his ears twitched by themselves, and his whiskers were so long that they brushed the grass.  He gave one leap and the joy of using those hind legs was so great that he went springing about the turf with them, jumping sideways and whirling round as the other did, and he grew so excited that when at last he did stop to look for the Fairy she had gone.

He was a Real Rabbit at last, at home with the other rabbits.

from The Velveteen Rabbit
by Margery Williams

 

To Reflect:

Due to the devotions of Maundy Thursday and the vigil after the evening service these words were finally written very early on Good Friday.  Not, on reflection, a bad time to be awake in the long hours before dawn.

Today our Master gives himself away for us and He, who lived such a strong and vigorous life, will be broken on the cross, nailed down, to set us free.  Today is a good day to discover that because his limbs were bruised, beaten and broken we are set free to dance.  Like the rabbit today is the day we discover that we have ‘hind legs’ and because of the love of the One who was bound on the cross for us we can leap with joy, jump sideways and whirl around in circles.

Yes, today is a day marked by the sorrow of the cross – and we must stop and spend time at the foot of that same cross – but today is also the day we celebrate the victory of the cross.  However you embrace the Master today, on cross, crucifix or Christus Rex, make certain that you leave your old sawdust filled life at his feet and then go and life a new life of joy in Jesus’ name.

These verses remind us what today is all about;

He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.  For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have   returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

(1 Peter 4.24-25)

Today is the day we are healed!  In your devotions say ‘thank you’ then go and live – dance even – the new life which has been won just for you.

 

To Pray:

Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes through which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.

 (Teresa of Avila)

 

 

© Andrew Dotchin – 2018