Easter Faith in Present Tense
- Candace McKibben
- 14 hours ago
- 4 min read
When we purchased our river cabin in 2012 in Mysterious Waters, a small community on the Wakulla River, we did not have the idea that we would ever live in it full time. The improvements we made to the cabin through the years were modest and more about maintaining the property and home in good order than what we might wish to change or develop. Except for the secret garden. Early in our occasional visits to the cabin, I realized that there was a natural formation of trees that created a sort of “room” in the woods behind our house. I imagined that when we retired or had more time to spend at the river, we might create a garden in that natural alcove.
When we moved to the river in August 2025, my husband had a surprise for me, in that he had taken logs from some of the trees that we had to clear on the property and created a pathway into the secret garden. That, plus the bench he put within the clearing, was a gesture of great kindness that I deeply appreciated.
It turns out that while it is a secret space, the deer know all about it, and the plants that I put within the space, plants carefully retrieved from my Tallahassee home, have been a nice contribution to the deer diet, even those that are deer-resistant. So now rather than plants, the secret garden features lawn statues, including my favorite at the entry to the garden, Saint Francis of Assisi.
He is a treasured gift to me from East Hill Baptist Church in 2004 after ten years of ministry there and adorned my front yard in Tallahassee, standing in a modest garden near my sidewalk, for years. In bothstations, Saint Francis has welcomed guests and me to sacred places. Though his feet have been glued back on several times from toppling over in the yard in Tallahassee or being dropped into place in the woods, he is leaning beautifully against a tree in our backyard, a “chill” Saint Francis.
This year in contemplating Easter and its meaning, I have thought about the lovely prayer that is attributed to Saint Francis. In ways, it is a tribute to what Easter means and should look like in the life of a Christian not only on its highest, most holy day, that Christians celebrate this year on April 5, but every day.
Easter is a day of triumph, when Christians affirm that Jesus is risen from the dead.
What a powerful and important verb tense. In an article in the April 2026 issue of Christian Century, author Stephanie Saldañasuggests that “we need to examine the grammar of our faith to meet God in the present tense again.” Living in Jerusalem in a small Christian community and under the threat of war, Saldaña understands firsthand how difficult it is to have hope during what feels like hopeless times, how easy it is to slip into despair. But, she continues, despair invites us to slip into the past tense, rather than meeting God in the present. It is a challenge but important in the face of the harm and moral injury so many of us are currently experiencing, to meet God in the here and now.
...despair invites us to slip into the past tense, rather than meeting God in the present.
And Saint Francis, among the most revered of Saints, has counsel for us in the prayer, “Lord Make Me an Instrument of Thy Peace,” about how to live in the present tense with God. While attributed to Saint Francis, it first appeared in its modern form in a French Spiritual Magazine, La Clochette, in 1912 and reflects well his theology.
The Prayer of Saint Francis
“Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. “
There is another blessing based on Franciscan spirituality that I came across when preparing for the funeral service of a dear member of our Tallahassee Fellowship, Justine Chance, four years ago now. It captures her spirit well as one who lived with God in the present tense.
A Franciscan Blessing for Justice and Peace
“May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.
May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.
May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.
May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really can make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God’s grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.”
These inspirations to live in the present tense with God is what the message of Easter invites. Christ is risen, and he is risen now, in this moment, in the hearts of all who rely on his way of love.
It is my prayer that we all, in our varied expressions of faith, spirituality, and good intentions, will live into the wisdom of these prayers that encourage us to love each other well and make a difference in this world. It is what Easter is all about, keeping love alive. Happy Easter.
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