In his Report to Greco...
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In his Report to Greco, Nikos Kazantzakis describes Easter Sunday, shortly before daybreak, in the mountains of Crete. A priest, Father Kaphatos, "races from village to village resurrecting Christ with mercurial speed because there are so many villages having only this one priest, and he must perform the resurrection in all of them before daybreak. Sleeves rolled up, weighted with his vestments and the heavy silver-bound Bible, he clambers over rocky furze-covered mountains, runs through the holy night gasping for breath, reaches one village, shouts Christos anesti -- 'Christ Is Risen!' -- and then dashes to the next village, his tongue hanging out of his mouth." It is almost dawn when he reaches the final village in the parish. The people are wedged into this little church, candles remain unlit in their hands, waiting for the Great Word to come so that they can light them. When this little congregation hears "a crunching of pebbles in the silence, as though a horse were hastily climbing the mountainside and the stones cascading down," they know that the priest is on his way and will arrive soon. "He's coming. He is almost here!" And then, says Kazantzakis, "They all fly outside. The east is already tinted rose; the skies are laughing. Heavy breaths are heard, then it happens ... shirt unbuttoned, drenched with sweat, flushed from running, engrossed in the many Christs he has resurrected-out springs old, black, dwarfish Father Kaphatos yelling, 'Christos anestakas, lads!' " The word that the gospel writer John offers is very familiar: "I am the vine, my Father is the vinedresser ... you are the branches ... he who abides in me, and I in him will bear much fruit." This word is meant to connect us in another way to the Resurrection of our Lord. It has something of the quality of Father Kaphatos' new word, "Christos anestakas," for you and me. -- Smith
