While in Natchez after Katrina, I found a book on Gregory of Nyssa and began reading the writing of this man, the brother of Basil the Great. He (Gregory) gave the opening address at the Council of Constantinople, convened by the Emperor Theodosius in 381 A.D.
On the Incarnation and Resurrection, Gregory wrote:
God hid under the covering of our human nature so as to become easy bait to him who sought to exchange us for a greater prize. And the aim was that just like a greedy fish, he would swallow the hook of divinity together with the bait of the flesh. Thus life would come to dwell in the realm of death; light would appear in darkness and light and life would destroy all that stood against us.
Christ did not suffer death because he had been born; rather, it was because of death that He chose to be born. He entered into our existence to restore us from [the clutches of] death to life. He touched death itself, so that He might make of our human nature, in His own image, a principle of resurrection. We rise from death and destruction--the gates of hell shall not prevail against us.
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How fortuitous that this book came to you while waiting to define life after Katrina. Isn't it wonderful that there are those who see continuous rebirth as the true journey of the cycles of life and death?
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