day no. 15,490: resurrection in its seed form

Clement in his letter to the Corinthians reveals that nature itself is illustrating for us the glory of resurrection in ways that largely go unnoticed.

1 Clement 24:2-5

Let us look, beloved, at the resurrection that is ever taking place. Day and night show to us the resurrection; the night is lulled to rest, the day ariseth; the day departeth, the night cometh on. Let us consider the fruits, in what way a grain of corn is sown. The sower goeth forth and casteth it into the ground, and when the seeds are cast into the ground, they that fell into the ground dry and naked are dissolved; then after their dissolution, the mighty power of the providence of the Lord raiseth them up, and from one seed many grow up and bring forth fruits.

Every day provides a symbol of resurrection. Each day dies. It ends in darkness. It lays itself down to rest. We, in concert, lay ourselves down in sleep, which is itself a kind of death. The day ends in darkness and our bodies go down in slumber. And then, glorious day, the sun rises anew and our bodies from their slumber awake. Each day in the setting of the sun and its rising, in our laying ourselves down and our waking, we see witness of the power of resurrection. 

The sown seeds dissolve when they’re stamped into the earth, but rise in glory to produce fruit and more seed. The solitary seed multiplies through resurrection what it divided in dying. 

And so a day is coming when our souls shall depart from our bodies, when we will be buried into the earth from which we came. But from that dirt, we shall rise by the grace of God, greater and more glorious than ever before to the ever present, never-ending day where the sun never sets, the days never end, the fruit never fails, and death is no more.