Chapter six, “Present Risenness,” in Brennan Manning’s Abba’s Child caught me offguard. The resurrection theme has been on alert to my ears for the last year. Manning’s language both challenges and refreshes. Read these highlights to experience it.

For me, the most radical demand of Christian faith lies in summoning the courage to say yes to the present risenness of Jesus Christ….This yes is an act of faith-a decisive, wholehearted response of my whole being to the risen Jesus present beside me, before me, around me, and within me.

The resurrection of Jesus must be experienced as more than a past historical event…in other words, the resurrection needs to be experienced as present risenness…If our faith is alive and luminous, we will be alert to moments, events, and occasions when the power of resurrection is brought to bear on our lives. Self-absorbed and inattentive, we fail to notice the subtle ways in which Jesus is snagging our attention.

The present risenness of Jesus as “life-giving Spirit” means that I can cope with anything. I am not on my own.

Hope knows that if great trials are avoided, great deeds remain undone, and the possibility of growth into greatness of soul is aborted. Pessimism and defeatism are never the fruit of the life-giving Spirit but rather reveal our unawareness of present risenness.

May your day flow with the life-giving Spirit of present risenness.