Easter is past. It was two days ago. We can look at it as an event, and now life can return to normal. That would be tragic. Easter is not an event we get over, like Thanksgiving or Valentine's Day. Easter is the alive, spiritual presence that empowers our lives, enables us to see a new spiritual dimension, changes our values systems, and, as the Bible says, "opens our eyes."
Yes, the ordinary still happens, the tragic still happens, the boring still happens.
Before I left the church on Good Friday afternoon, I got a call from my wife, Judy, that she and our grandson Hunter were in an auto accident. No one was hurt. They were both scared. The car is a mess. In the middle of fear, the quieting presence of God was felt, and continues to be felt especially as Hunter thinks about the crash and the police.
On the way home to her, I had a flat tire during rush hour on jam-packed route 3. I needed to find a place to pull off midst all the noise of high speed cars zooming by, and figure out how to put on the spare. The quieting presence of God was there as I got "my head together," fearfully moved to an exit and eventually to a side street.
A week ago I attended the funeral of a friend. She had worked for me for 25 years, and was only 66. Very sad and it was hard to be there. The empowering, quieting presence of God was there in the loving remembrances that were shared, the laughs and the scripture truths that were read.
My favorite Easter Story is the two Men on the Road to Emmaus. They were depressed and bewildered by what had happened. Jesus joined them but they did not recognize him. Their eyes were opened when he shared the bread and wine, his very life.
That love, that presence is with us wherever we are, whatever the events of our lives. That is the Easter promise. There is no going back to normal....it is a new normal. |