It's About New Life

Yesterday was Easter, as you know. I woke up in time for early service, so I decided to get ready and go. Picked a nice dress (checked to make sure I’d shaved my legs recently). Had a Cadbury cream egg for breakfast (don’t judge me: this is the only time of year to enjoy Easter candy – at least it wasn’t the Robin Eggs or I’d have finished the whole bag). Did my hair and makeup and hopped in the Rogue.

Of course, past years have involved getting out the Easter baskets for the girls and preparing a nice Easter dinner, as much as I do that kind of thing. But with my singleness and my empty nest, it was just me this time around, and that was fine.

I was walking in the sanctuary just as the introit was playing, so I snuck in and sat quietly. There was a brass ensemble joining us – love those Sundays. The bulletin said our first hymn was “Christ the Lord is Risen Today”. Of course . . . and I was so glad. Randy gestured for us to stand as Daniel played the introduction . . .

. . . and it suddenly occurred to me that this was my first time to speak this morning – the first words to come out of my mouth on Resurrection Sunday.

Christ the Lord is risen today! A-a-a-lleluia!!

Yes. Perfect.

Earth and heaven in chorus say, A-a-a-lleluia!

I took a deep breath for the glorious high notes in the next line.

Raise your joys and triumphs high!! A-a-a-lleluia!

And the melody just carried me . . .

Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply – A-a-a-lleluia!!

This is one of those days when I’m happy to be going to a church with a very traditional worship style. I can enjoy a contemporary service, but on Easter morning, I want THIS hymn, done big, done bold, and done right.

In fact, my church isn’t just traditional, it’s liturgical, which has brought me a whole new perspective on the Easter season. Because Easter is a season, y’all, not just a day. There’s forty days of Lent, and then there are fifty days of Eastertide. The fact that, for most American Christians, the most important day in all of history has been reduced to a one-day commemoration with rabbits, egg hunts, and candy is a sad state of affairs, I've decided.

Recent reading has gotten me pretty psyched about the new heaven and new earth -- about the life after life after death, as Jordan Raynor puts it. I have a completely new view on death and heaven . . . which changes my view of life . . . which changes my feelings about Easter. I want to do justice to the meaning of this blessed event and holy time. I just haven't figured out exactly how to do that yet. 

Two years ago, I made my first attempt at this. I wrote a series of blog posts I called Resurrection Stations. We do the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday – why not Stations of the Resurrection for Eastertide? I’m going to revisit those this year . . . and hopefully find some other ways to observe the occasion for these fifty days. Now that my life changes have allowed me to let go of the Easter Bunny, I want to replace that with something more real. I want more of my first words of the day to be alleluias to the risen Lord.

If you follow me on Facebook or if you’re on my email list to get my new posts, I’m going to share the Resurrection Stations there. (If you’re not on my list and want to be, give me your email at the left and I’ll add you.) 

Christos Anesti, dear ones! He is risen! Let’s spend all fifty days of Eastertide pondering the glory of that!