Roll away the stone

I gave my Easter list to Jesus tonight at Confession. NO, not a Christmas list, an Easter list. The timing felt right, so I went ahead and gave him one hundred items for the greater good of my planet. The greatest smile came over his wrinkly face. He took a look at it and just beamed back at me--all aglow--with total mystery in his wizened eyes.

I was taken aback, and it felt
piercing in my heart.
The look came at me like one of my mother's when she looks at me as if I were again the little baby who had ear infections; or the kid who jumped off the top stair one day and couldn't cry he was so shocked at being breathless; the kid who had tucked chocolate into his pockets without paying at the register, me.
She knew all my successes and had seen me off at airports. She had all the report cards and gone to all the teacher's conferences; she knew that I could and couldn't do everything I dreamed. It was okay.

For my penance I went to Mary and asked her to put me with her son. She said that she had already, where had I run too? It was okay, he was in the back, and I could go back and find him.