I’m so thankful for you all! I was under the weather earlier this week, thus no Tuesday newsletter. My apologies. It’s that time of year. (You know, when germs seem to jump out of you from the Target door handle.)
Thanks also to all the new subscribers! Your support means the world to me! If you haven’t subscribed, take a moment and check it out.
For many, this week kicks off the “Easter season.” And even if you don’t celebrate Lent, we’re all looking forward to celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. Tonight, I would love to hear what you most treasure about the Easter season.
Hearing what we love about Easter, what it means to each of us, matters. In fact, each Sunday the early church celebrated as the “Little Easter.” So, as excited as we all were about the Incarnation a couple of months ago, how much more are we excited about celebrating the resurrection of Jesus?
So, feel free to chime any thoughts on the following:
What do you find most beautiful about the season?
What do you wish more people would talk about?
How does your church “get it right” at Easter?
How does this time leading up to Easter affect you spiritually? Do you have any practices that enrich your Easter holiday?
What is your favourite moment in the Easter narrative? (and you can’t say the resurrection—ha!) But literally from the story in Scripture, what moves you?
Hmm what practices enrich Easter? This has changed over the years with raising our sons to now being empty nesters.
One of the practices I brought from my growing up was sunrise service. As a MK in the Congo my dad & later our African pastor led a sunrise service at the lake on Easter. When our boys were home we always found a body of water for a family sunrise service-complete with thermos of coffee/tea & homemade rolls. When the boys were in college they brought friends home specifically to experience it with us.
A special memory is the time we did a Seder & had a Jewish couple who had just become Christians the previous Christmas. When My Guy began to explain about the Matzoh representing Jesus’ body pierced, the stripes as the marks from whips & then broken- the tears flooded their eyes. When asked why the tears? “ All our lives we have been celebrating Passover but we were blind-but now we see!! These are tears of joy! We feel complete!”
These days due to limitations things are much simpler & more contemplative. I read each day from Bonhoeffer “ God is on the Cross” & from “ Bread & Wine” a collection of Lent writing, & some writing from Ann Voscamp.
For me this time of year involves learning and understanding more and more of how the first believers "saw"the events, and how the already established Holy Days took on richer, deeper meaning for them, which has been passed down to us.
My favorite moment in the Easter narrative is when “the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom”. The access and freedom to enter into the presence of God, given to us by God Himself.
Hmm what practices enrich Easter? This has changed over the years with raising our sons to now being empty nesters.
One of the practices I brought from my growing up was sunrise service. As a MK in the Congo my dad & later our African pastor led a sunrise service at the lake on Easter. When our boys were home we always found a body of water for a family sunrise service-complete with thermos of coffee/tea & homemade rolls. When the boys were in college they brought friends home specifically to experience it with us.
A special memory is the time we did a Seder & had a Jewish couple who had just become Christians the previous Christmas. When My Guy began to explain about the Matzoh representing Jesus’ body pierced, the stripes as the marks from whips & then broken- the tears flooded their eyes. When asked why the tears? “ All our lives we have been celebrating Passover but we were blind-but now we see!! These are tears of joy! We feel complete!”
These days due to limitations things are much simpler & more contemplative. I read each day from Bonhoeffer “ God is on the Cross” & from “ Bread & Wine” a collection of Lent writing, & some writing from Ann Voscamp.
For me this time of year involves learning and understanding more and more of how the first believers "saw"the events, and how the already established Holy Days took on richer, deeper meaning for them, which has been passed down to us.
My favorite moment in the Easter narrative is when “the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom”. The access and freedom to enter into the presence of God, given to us by God Himself.