Like many progressive Christians, I have had a hard time figuring out how to incorporate the Easter story into my personal faith experience. Part of the reason for that is that Ive always struggled with the traditional notion of the blood atonement of the cross, and of an innocent man being sacrificed for our sins, all orchestrated by his Heavenly Father. In addition, I have been troubled by the insistence of some Christians that the only way the story has any value is to take it literally, in terms of a physical resuscitation of Jesus.

Let me be clear that I respect folks who believe that way, and find a literal resurrection a valid theology for their own faith. That is fine. But when they insist on making it the essential foundation of the Christian faith experience not only for themselves, but also for all believers, thats when I have a problem. Because thats just not something to which I can ascribe. But the downside is that because of that insistence, the story never really had an impact on me, even back when I was a more traditional Christian.

In recent years, however, I have been able to find new meaning in Easter for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that I am now able to experience the story in the best meaning of the word myth that is, in the original meaning of the word, which is that a myth is a story about the way things never were but always are or, one I like even better a myth is something that never happened yet happens all the time. Journeying with the two travelers on the Emmaus Road (from Luke 24:13-31) helped me get to where I am today.

"Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, What are you discussing with each other while you walk along? They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days? He asked them, What things? They replied, The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over. So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight" (Luke 24:13-31)

For me, this story is a perfect example of something that never happened yet happens all the time. In fact, biblical scholars suggest that the story might be a dream sequence or spiritual vision because archeologists have found no evidence of a town called Emmaus anywhere near Jerusalem during the time of Jesus death. And when I began to view the story through the lens of a spiritual vision, it quickly became my favorite of the many resurrection stories. Why? Because I can relate to the experience of the Emmaus Road travelers quite well since the death of my father three and a half years ago. And my personal experience dealing with that is the other reason I am able to embrace the Easter message.

My father was an undeniably strong presence in my life I was one of the lucky ones who enjoyed a close relationship with my father throughout most of my life. We had our issues, as any father and daughter do, but overall we had a very good relationship, and he was an extremely important person to me. In fact, because he was my father, he was, in many ways, larger than life. Since he died, his compelling presence has continued to exert itself. And in some ways, his presence and influence are even stronger now than before his death. Not a day goes when I dont think of him and miss him, remember something he said or did, and try to honor his memory. My husband and I will often sit at dinner and tell stories about him, laughing about the funny things he said, missing him dearly while at the same time rejoicing that he was part of our lives. And even though he is gone, he remains a strong influence on me, and continues to impact me on a daily basis.

As wonderful a man as my father was, he was no Jesus. Yet because of the powerful influence he had on me, I continue to experience my father as a living reality even after his death, much as Jesus followers experienced him after his death, but even more powerfully so. Ultimately it is the same for us as well. For the power of the Emmaus Road story is that it reminds us that the Risen Christ still journeys with us, whether we realize it or not, and continues to come to us again and again. For we all meet Jesus in some way or another, in other people on different roads, but very often we, like the disciples, dont recognize him.

The main thing I have learned is that there is much more spiritual sustenance available from the concept of resurrection if one goes beyond a literal belief in physical resuscitation. One form of that sustenance can be found whenever we experience a personal transformation in the course of our own life cycles. In the gospels and much of the rest of New Testament, death and resurrection, dying and rising, were used again and again as metaphors for the process of spiritual transformation. Resurrection was not viewed as a literal concept by first century Christians, but as a metaphor for that process of dying to an old way of being, and being born into a new one. So it is possible for a person to become an entirely new creature, undergoing a spiritual transformation from one identity to another in the same physical body. And some of those who will share during the service will be talking about that nuance of resurrection.

Another form of spiritual power found in resurrection is the continuing presence of important people in our lives after their death. Jesus is a continuing presence in my life, just as he was for his original followers and generations of Christians ever since. This has become especially clear to me as Ive experienced that phenomenon in the wake of my own fathers death, which has obviously been the catalyst for my new way of thinking about the Easter story.