Easter is my absolute favorite holiday. I like things that have significance or meaning to them so this holiday really sits well with me. It has the most significance and meaning of anything else we celebrate in this country.
Growing up we got new church outfits and on Easter morning we had baskets full of goodies and toys. We would hunt for eggs, eat breakfast, and get ready for church. When we got home we had roast, potatoes, carrots, and corn with hot buttered rolls and deviled eggs. Brett and I would take turns hiding the colored eggs and finding them again. For the next couple of days we would have egg salad sandwiches and boiled eggs with pepper. I really like eggs so this was great for me.
As I got older the baskets, bunnies, and egg coloring went away but the new outfit and church service always remained special to me. Now, as an adult I just focus on the church service. A new outfit would be nice but I live paycheck to paycheck so new clothes are a rarity, like christmas present only rarity.
When in Graduate School I went to my first sunrise service and was so blown away by the awesomeness of it that I have sought one every year since. Some years are more successful than others. This year I was more determined and have now found several but have made a decision already to attend one close to home.
A couple of years ago I attended my first Passover and was very impressed with the relevance of the Passover story for christians today. It has so many elements that point to Christ and His sacrifice as the final Passover lamb that it really brings new meaning to the Easter story. I have attended a Passover seder every year since that first time but again this year I am having trouble finding one. Passover is actually later than Easter this year so I still have time to find the right place to go for a seder meal.
Last night I was at a meeting that spent more time worshiping than the past weeks we have met. We had communion together and the spiritual leader reminded us all that many years ago on this very night Christ was sharing his last Passover meal with his apostles. I had to pause for a moment and reflect on that. What a powerful image to meditate on while taking communion. I thought about how this would be the night that Christ stayed in the garden and prayed, “Take this cup from me but thy will be done not mine.”
Today as I woke up and thanked God for the day and my many blessings I thought that today would be the day that Christ would be beaten and marched to a hill where his cross awaited him to die a sinners death. My sin, my death that He willing took for me.
Tomorrow I will be teaching a CPR class. I now think that is a bit strange that on the day of quiet a day when Christ was dead to us and battling Satan to conquer death once and for all I will be teaching people the skills to resurrect life.
Then Sunday, glorious Sunday. I will get up early and sit on my back porch feeling the cool air and reading the resurrection story. I will ride my bike a 1/2 mile down the road and participate in a sunrise service. I will return home (uphill) and get ready for service at my regular congregation. I will praise and worship the risen Savior. I will admire the new clothes of the children in the hallway. I will be introduced to brand new bunnies and rabbits that were found in a basket on the couch. I will join some friends at their house with their extended family for lunch (I hope there will be deviled eggs). Later in the afternoon if the showers stay at bay I will go for a longer bike ride and take in the beauty of nature and the awakening of Spring. I will praise and worship God while using the muscles and lungs he has blessed me with to power a bike. I will go back to my porch late in the day and read again the resurrection story. I will sleep well knowing that Christ conquered death for me — for you.
Happy Easter!
1 Comment
21 March 2008 at 1:28 pm
He is risen!