Heaven's Light (For Barbara)
Let the gray skies part
As your spirit flies like a dove
Into heaven's light
Whilst we pray
Until our time to join you
And have an abundance of joy
In His Resurrection
Where He wraps us with love
Like the love we had for each other
Caressing our tears away
Easter Morning -- He Qi
The execution and, 3 days later on Easter, the resurrection of Jesus are the central tenets of Christianity. The sequence is believed to be God's plan of human salvation and redemption by atonement for sin; faith in Jesus leads to eternal life. About 2 decades later St Paulos outlined the dogma in his "First Epistle to the Corinthians," in which he declared that "if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.... And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied." As proof he cited a series of post-crucifixion appearances to St. Peter (later the 1st pope), then to "the Twelve," then to 500, then to Ya'akov (James, the brother of Jesus), then to "all the apostles," and "last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also" when he was blinded for 3 days and Jesus appeared before him in an auditory vision. It is difficult to understand the reference to the "Twelve" since Judas had already killed himself for his betrayal of Jesus, and how "all the Apostles' would be a group other than the original dozen, and there is no other reference to the crowd of "500." In addition, there is no mention of the 1st revelation of the risen Christ to a group of women which included his mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, and perhaps others, variously identified as Shelomit (Salome, sometimes identified as the cousin of Jesus' mother or the mother of John and another apostle named James; known as one of the "Three Marys" in catholic tradition) and Ionna (an associate of Mary Magdalene who was married to Chuza, the manager of the household of Herodes Antipatros, the tetrarch of Galilee and Perea who had been involved in Jesus' trial).
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