Holy Week was difficult in many ways. It was rainy and I hurt. My dear sweet giraffe friend, Julius
Longfellow, suddenly was gone. My little
Sadie cat has taken a turn for the worse.
And then there are all the dark things happening in our country and the
world, even fears of a nuclear attack by North Korea. It was so easy to feel the despair of Good
Friday.
On Easter morning I was ready for sudden joy and brightness
during our service. The sun was shining
although the air was cool. People were
dressed up. The children made me smile
during the children’s time—and there were so many of them. But that great joy that would blot out the
darkness just wasn’t there. The Easter
flowers were beautiful, but. . .
I realized that everything wasn’t suddenly wonderful for the
disciples either. The women learned the
good news first and they were the ones who told the disciples. It took a while for them to comprehend what
the resurrection meant for them.
However, they learned what they were meant to do and they changed the
world. But they did this at great cost
to themselves.
What is Easter really about?
I think it is about hope. It’s
about God’s love for us. God took
something horrible and turned it into something joyous. We are living in dark times and people are
full of fear. God is still here,
continuing to love us. There is
hope. We need to step forward, just like
the disciples after the resurrection, and follow Jesus. Hope and love abound. We need to look for it in each other. We are the Easter people and together we can
change the world.
Written on 4/18/17
