Punctuation

Today, I drove by a restaurant whose sign currently reads, "Let's Go Bucs?" At first, I thought perhaps someone mistakenly put a question mark where there should be an exclamation point. But then, I realized that it was probably meant to be mocking sarcasm of the local baseball team, as has been customary for years in this area. So I began to wonder what message the punctuation was trying to send:

"Is this all we have to keep us going between the end of hockey season and the beginning of football season?"

"Seeing as all the inexplicably popular but mediocre (at best) players have been traded away, who are these guys?"

"Are the Pirates going to move to a new city?"

Everyone knows by now that the Pirates are one big question mark. Some people find hope in that question mark, and others find only despair. But the point is, it's been a long, long, long time since we've had a baseball team worth exclamations -- whether you look at the 30 years and counting without a title, or the 17 years and counting without a winning record.

The Bible was originally written and transcribed sans punctuation. This means that the punctuation marks of scripture are actually interpretations of the text. So, when we read John 20:16, for instance, and we hear Mary say, "Rabbouni!" (which means teacher), it means that someone in the annals of history interpreted Mary's words as an exclamation. But what if it was a question? What if Mary wasn't so sure this gardener was her beloved Jesus?

Our own encounters with Jesus are punctuated as well. Sometimes, we see the presence of Jesus in our lives, and we can hardly hold back as we exclaim, "Rabbouni!" Other times, we sense his presence, but we're not sure if it really is our Lord and Savior, so we curiously ask, "Rabbouni?" And then there are times that Jesus is simply there, and in our need for comfort and rest, we breathe a sigh of relief: "Rabbouni." Finally, there might be times that our encounter with Jesus opens us up into a deeper discovery, a new understanding, or the beginning of a sacred story, and we expectantly whisper, "Rabbouni..."

Whatever punctuation is placed on your faith today, I pray that you have encountered the Risen Christ today. For the Christian, every day is Easter. Every day is the day of resurrection.