A Radiant Resurrection

A Companion for Your Journey from Ash Wednesday to Pentecost

"Let no one fear death, for the death of our Savior has set us free."—St. John Chrysostom

Lent is a pilgrimage of the soul when Christians have always commemorated the death and resurrection of Jesus with a season of reflection. Through poems, essays, and devotional readings, A Radiant Resurrection invites you into the time of reflection from Ash Wednesday through Eastertide. Writtenby members of the Chrysostom Society, this spiritual companion is designed to offer new light and depth to your Lenten journey.

This volume includes five weeks of Lenten readings, a week of daily readings for Holy Week, and selections for seven more weeks from Easter to Pentecost. These writings illuminate the agonies and wonders of the Savior's pivotal weeks, revealing how his radiant rising becomes our own.

What you'll find in A Radiant Resurrection:



- A vast collection of literary readings, devotions, essays, and poems compiled into thirteen weeks of readings

- A companion for preparing and celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus

- A helpful resource for those following the liturgical year, whether as individuals or as groups



In these pages, experience a three-part journey of preparation, celebration, and action—penitent preparation for Jesus' sacrificial death, joyous celebration of his return to life and ascent to glory, and active response through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Whether used in personal devotions or by a church congregation or small group, A Radiant Resurrection invites you into reflection, celebration, and renewal. Come encounter the One who dies that our death may die, and rises again to raise us anew.

About the Contributors

This volume includes writings from an array of contributors, including Deborah Dickerson, Jill Peláez Baumgaertner, Paul Willis, Winn Collier, Madeleine L'Engle, Liz McFadzean, Luci Shaw, Benjamin Myers, Richard J. Foster, Tania Runyan, Robert Siegel, Daniel Taylor, Marilyn McEntyre, Paula Huston, Lauren Winner, Amanda DeVos Newell, Eugene Peterson, John Leax, Matthew Dickerson, Leslie Leyland Fields, Robert Hudson, Sarah Arthur, Scott Cairns, St. John Chrysostom, Walter Wangerin Jr., Diane Glancy, Jeanne Murray Walker, and Gina Ochsner.



Eugene H. Peterson (1932–2018) was a pastor, scholar, author, and poet. He wrote more than thirty books, including his widely acclaimed paraphrase of the Bible, The Message; his memoir, The Pastor; and numerous works of biblicalspiritual formation, including Run with the Horses and Traveling Light.







Luci Shaw (1928-2025) was a poet, an editor, a retreat leader, a lecturer, and the author of forty books, including Thumbprint in the Clay, The Adventure of Ascent, and The Genesis of It All. Luci and her husband lived in Bellingham, Washington, where she enjoyed sailing, tent camping, knitting, gardening, and wilderness photography.







Richard J. Foster is the founder of Renovaré. He is the author of several books, including Streams of Living Water, Prayer, Freedom of Simplicity, Sanctuary of the Soul, and Celebration of Discipline, which has sold over two million copies worldwide; he is coauthor (with Gayle Beebe) of Longing for God. He and his wife, Carolynn, make their home near Denver, Colorado.







Taylor, Ph.D., is a professor of English at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota. He has written several books.







Leslie Leyland Fields is the award-winning author of fourteen books, including Nearing a Far God and Your Story Matters. She is the coeditor of the Chrysostom Society's Advent anthology, A Radiant Birth, and teaches writing workshops around the world and online in her Memoir Masterclass.







Paul J. Willis is emeritus professor of English at Westmont College and a former poet laureate of Santa Barbara, California. He is the author of collections of poetry and essays, including Losing Streak and To Build a Trail. He is the coeditor of the Chrysostom Society's Advent anthology, A Radiant Birth.



Foreword by Jessica Hooten Wilson

Introduction by Paul Willis



Part I: Lenten Season

Ash Wednesday

Deborah Dickerson

Ashes to Ashes

Jill Peláez Baumgaertner

A Meditation on Decay

Paul Willis



Week One: Pilgrimage

A Pilgrimage Toward Joy

Winn Collier

For Lent, 1966

Madeleine L'Engle

Lenten Longings

Liz McFadzean

Anchored

Luci Shaw

Flying in after theIce Storm

Benjamin Myers

Fasting in the Spirit

Richard J. Foster



Week Two: Joy in Our Sorrows

Grief Group

Deborah Dickerson

The Orphans

Benjamin Myers

The Cat in the Cistern

Benjamin Myers

Count it All as Loss

Tania Runyan

Blackbird in the Chimney

Robert Siegel

Dying and Rising

Jill Peláez Baumgaertner



Week Three: Mystery

Sensing

Luci Shaw

TheTexas Fundamentalist Boy Learns to Love High(er) Liturgy

Daniel Taylor

Jonah and Pinocchio

Benjamin Myers



Week Four: Watch and Pray

Sin

Deborah Dickerson

Watch and Pray

Marilyn McEntyre

Prayer

Deborah Dickerson

Bright Wings

Paula Huston

A Sweet Smell

Lauren Winner



Week Five: Bitterly Sweet

A Recipe for _____

Amanda DeVos Newell

Pruning the Apple Trees

Deborah Dickerson

Festival

Eugene Peterson

Lent

Benjamin Myers

The Snow Falls

Robert Siegel

Broader than the Measures of the Mind

Marilyn McEntyre

Jesus Tells His Story

Luci Shaw



Part II: Holy Week

Palm Sunday Villager

John Leax

Gentleness May Be Repaid with Death

Matthew Dickerson

A Colt, the Foal of an Ass

Robert Siegel

Crying Out

PaulWillis



Holy Monday

Royalty

Luci Shaw

No Country for Two Kings

Leslie Leyland Fields

Revival

Luci Shaw

No One Can Boast

Tania Runyan

Walking the Ridge Home: Four

JohnLeax



Holy Tuesday

A Notable Failure

Robert Siegel

Hollow Again

Paul Willis

On Growing Old

Robert Hudson

Lessons from a Toddler

Deborah Dickerson

A Bird in the Church

Luci Shaw



Holy Wednesday

Take This Cup

Paula Huston

Passionate Sins

Paul Willis

Judas, Peter

Luci Shaw

The Washing of Feet

Madeleine L'Engle

Judas

Robert Siegel



Maundy Thursday

Power in the Blood

Sarah Arthur

Barabbas

Paul Willis

Not with Words of Eloquent Wisdom

Tania Runyan

A Palace Guard

John Leax



Good Friday

The More EarnestPrayer of Christ

Scott Cairns

Stations of the Cross

Marilyn McEntyre

Magdalene at the Crucifixion

Tania Runyan

Beyond Pain

Jill Peláez Baumgaertner

Son and Mother

Luci Shaw

Good Friday

Tania Runyan

Good Friday

Deborah Dickerson



Holy Saturday

Great and Holy Saturday

Madeleine L'Engle

Mary at Calvary

Tania Runyan

Another Crucifixion

Scott Cairns

Taking the Middle Seat

Leslie Leyland Fields

Bystander

John Leax

My God, My God

Jill Peláez Baumgaertner

Good Friday at the Alamo

Benjamin Myers



Part III: Easter Season

Resurrection Sunday

Don't Take Him Down Yet from the Cross

Leslie Leyland Fields

Easter Sermon

St. John Chrysostom

Rosing from the Dead

Paul Willis

Resurrection Song: Our Gardener Christ

John Leax

The Empty Tomb

Tania Runyan

In Season and Out

John Leax

Easter Uproot

Leslie Leyland Fields

Easter Morning

John Leax



Week One: Clothed and Fed

Ragman

Walter Wangerin Jr.

Easter Is a Dress

Diane Glancy

Jesus Writes a Poem

Luci Shaw

Feed My Sheep

Leslie Leyland Fields



Week Two: Consolation

Stigmata

Luci Shaw

Thomas

Robert Siegel

Open

Luci Shaw

Resurrection Country

Eugene Peterson

Staying Power

Jeanne Murray Walker

To Know Him, Risen

Luci Shaw

Mourning Dove

Paul Willis



Week Three: Emmaus

Resurrection Song: On the Road

John Leax

Inviting a Friend to Supper

Paul Willis

Present

Luci Shaw

A Life More Abundant

Richard J. Foster

Ignatius' Letter to the Romans

Benjamin Myers

The Leper's Return

Scott Cairns



Week Four: Forgiven

Before All Things

Tania Runyan

Ask

Amanda DeVos Newell

Feeding My Mother

Leslie Leyland Fields

The Foolishness of God

Luci Shaw



Week Five: Go into the World

They Also Serve Who Only Sit and Weep

Leslie Leyland Fields

The Partaking

Luci Shaw

The Thirteenth Apostle

Paul Willis

Apprenticedto Christ

Richard J.