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Saturday, April 2, 2016

Easter 2016: We each must find our own resurrection

3/27
EASTER 2016






And this is our Easter, 2016…

We enter into our newly remade Chapel and marvel at the work that has been done. It started with Jean and her volunteer crew from Sacramento. Then continued with West-Park volunteers. Don and his last team were here late last night until we were all ready. And Pat and Leila came early this morning to decorate. It has truly been a labor of love. And Leila and I have, as usual, dyed eggs to share with people. 


And so our Easter reflection…

Alleluia, Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleulia!

And so we begin our Easter in 2016. As Christians have for milennia. I remember when I worked in Pittsburgh, my neighbor Greek Orthodox priest throughout the whole season of Easter would greet me with a handshake and those words..Christ is risen…and I would respond Christ is risen indeed …

What do you remember? Of your childhood Easters? I remember I never enjoyed Easter as much as Christmas. Two many brooding hours in church the week before. Maundy Thursday. An endless 3 hour 7 last words service… But the word Easter brings images of cool spring to my mind. (And even  the day in Pittsburgh it snowed!) Church. Always a glorious choir and special anthems. At home, an Easter egg hunt for the plastic eggs, filled with treats, my parents had hidden around our yard.  A custom my sister has continued.
There would be lunch…a ham, always….and augratin potatoes….we each received an Easter basket with the two largest items a chocolate Easter bunny and  a giant egg, from the famous Sarris candymakers down the road. And in our earliest years at the old house with a half an acre and room for a garden behind the chicken coop, special child sized garden tools so we could participate in the  gardening. So a feeling of warmth….what images come to your mind?  I will confess, the Easter bunny left me long before Santa Claus.

Before I go on…look around…let this be an image for Easter 2016…a restored chapel….do you remember when we first returned? The ruins? A roof with exposed lath? The last two weeks have all but finished the process of bringing this place back to life…
Don at work...
Keep this picture in your mind…as well as thanks for all who have made this happen….and some very long hours…
When Don's crew finished....

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed!
It’s a statement…not a question. In a few short words, the why of our presence here…

These are our witnesses…
Mary Magdalene
Peter
The one Jesus loved…..

Mary goes because of love. She hadn’t run away from the crucifixion scene like the  others, the men had. She finds the stone rolled away. Stop a minute…..why was the stolen rolled away? To let Jesus out?  Or to let the disciples in? She assumes he’s been taken away. (Not an illogical idea…he was only in Simon’s tomb temporarily)

Peter and the other go running…the one gets there first…sees but does not go in..Peter arrives,  pushes him aside and with his typical lack of impulse control, rushes in.  And then the other comes too…and believed…what did he believe? Other than that Jesus was not there?

Then they go home…what? Why?

Mary is there again. Weeping. She sees two angels …why did they not appear to the men? Were they waiting for her?

And then, my favorite scene, where she mistakes  Jesus for the gardener…Note…there is no halo, no shining robes, maybe blue jean (green jean?) overalls…like the simplest humblest of people…

She doesn’t recognize him until she hears his voice. Hears her name in a way only he said it. And then she knows. (When you hear your name being called, whose voice is it?  A parent? A lover?  Whose voice?) It’s a scene almost as intimate as the anointment and the washing of feet with her hair…only John gives us this intimacy…

She wants to hold onto him, but she can’t….

And so she goes. And announces to the disciples, and so she becomes the first witness…

Resurrection….you know 20-40% of people who lose someone very close  report an appearance of the one who has died…maybe it’s  not so remarkable…..

In Latin America, when names of martyrs are read the people respond, Presente!.....present…here with us even now..

In the end, not about evidence, or proof or persuasion…no external verification…no twitter feeds, face book posts, snapchat or instagram…..

But a witness to what we have experienced…and there will be no other poof…

Have you seen the Lord? What can you proclaim? Each of us must find our own resurrection. Standing together in solidarity but  in the end, find our own.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Christ is risen, indeed! Alleluia!


And this is our Easter, 2016…














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