RebeccaPriceJanney.com

Hey All–

I am so looking forward to doing Tricia Goyer’s “Living Inspired” radio show today at 2 PM eastern. You can log on and listen live at http://toginet.com/shows/Livinginspired

Tricia and I go way back. In the mid-90s, Word published my first books, and I met fellow author Bill Myers. I remember telling him that although I had reached my dream of having books published, I often felt lonely, that I didn’t have colleagues to talk to around a water cooler.

Bill understood. He introduced me to two other writers through the internet, Lissa Hall Johnson and Robin Jones Gunn. I remember him teasing me about all these women with three names! Through those dear ladies, I began to grow a community of friends I could chat with regularly around an e-mail “cooler.”

Robin invited me to join a group of fellow writers led by aspiring author Tricia Goyer. Calling themselves the One Hearts, we quickly bonded to become a network of sisters in Christ. I have cherished those ladies literary through the thicks and thins of my life. I have always appreciated Tricia’s hard work to keep us together.

And today, here we are, about to do a radio show together! I rejoice with all that God has done through Tricia’s fabulous ministry that has reached so many people with powerful messages about life today.

I hope that you can join us! Who knows what may happen!

While I was a student at Princeton Seminary in the 1980s, I met the exiled Bishop Paulos of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. He had taken refuge at Princeton, where his tested and unshakable faith in the Lord inspired many of us students.

We learned of his six years in an Ethiopian prison with one more spent under house arrest after communist rebels overthrew the Emperor Haile Selassie’s government. A few years later, suddenly, inexplicably, the new regime freed the bishop. He realized that staying in his country might lead to further danger, so he escaped to the United States. He began a doctoral program at Princeton while pastoring a congregation of other Ethiopian exiles in New York City.

Bishop, as we called him, looked extraordinary on most days. He was easily distinguishable on campus, wearing a purple robe and Coptic-style hat, austere beard, and bejeweled cross against raven-colored skin. But on Ash Wednesday, the drama intensified. When Bishop appeared in the cafeteria that morning, it seemed as if Darth Vader had come to campus. The Ethiopian prelate wore so much black that even his cross hid discreetly in a breast pocket. He patiently explained the Coptic tradition for clergy to dress totally in black throughout Lent.

Seeing him enveloped in that ominous attire, I sometimes felt gloomy. I reflected on the battles Christians wage daily over the powers of sin and death. But the Bishop’s costume also reminded me that a Savior rescued me, bringing hope for this life and for eternity.

When Easter morning dawned, I hurried across campus for a sunrise service. Suddenly I stopped in my tracks as a vision strode toward me. As the dazzling white figure neared, I wondered if I was seeing an angel like the one who greeted Mary Magdalene so long ago! Then I realized, “It’s Bishop!” He wore so much white that even his spats testified to the message of Jesus’ awesome victory over death.

Bishop’s face glowed as he lifted his voice above the campus’s hushed stillness and proclaimed the ancient Easter greeting, “He is risen!” I joyously echoed, “He is risen indeed!”

May that message stir your soul this blessed Easter.