Easter 2011

Easter has rolled around again. And just as we celebrate the secular side of Christmas, we celebrate the secular side of Easter. We color eggs [though Maggie is always more excited about the idea of coloring eggs than actually coloring them -- so it's a good thing she only ever asks to color 6] and the Easter Bunny visits [though he usually only brings stuff that can be used to play outside like bubbles or sidewalk chalk and Maggie enjoys hiding her own eggs]. But even with the secular celebration, it warms me to see Maggie enjoy the Christian celebration as well. She enjoys Sunday School and even asked me the other night "Mom, I didn't tell you the Good News!" I like that she does not really confuse the 2 sides of our celebration and is learning to see the importance of both sides.

Easter is still a mystery to me and one that I don't fully understand. It's weird because while I believe the story to be true and I understand why Jesus died on the cross [and not just the "for our sins part, but the deeper meaning of sacrificial lamb], I am now struggling with the "How" of the story. How does His death and Resurrection save us? And perhaps that is the new modern struggle as sacrifice is something so different than in Biblical times. And perhaps that's not a question I'm do know the answer to at this time.

Rocky's parents are in town for the holiday and we (minus Rocky) attended Holy Thursday services as Brian had asked me to assist with the scriptural reflections. Eucharist was served at a triclinium and all were invited to take our turns sitting at the table to be served. We were invited to think about how Jesus thought of all of us that night as he broke bread with his disciples. How we were with Jesus that night. Brian chose scriptures to illustrate how those who were there did not know what they were about to be a part of. They did not realize that everything had been put in place long before they were are part of it. Brian invited us:

Luke 22:7-13
Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover Lamb has to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”
“Where do you want us to prepare for it?” They asked.
He Replied, “As you enter the city a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, “The Teacher asks; where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there.”
They left and found things just as Jesus had told them so they prepared the Passover.

And so it started. Preparations were already made, for something different than just the traditional Passover. A plan was already set in motion, the journey from the table to the cross had begun. We know the whole story, we can view each action with understanding of already knowing the conclusion. But each part of the story each, station had its own people, its own consequences, each part a piece of the whole. Put yourself into the story, see, feel and try to understand each of the characters of this week. You are invited to allow yourself to sit at the table to be a part of the story. The Disciples went through the events of tonight with out knowing about tomorrow, without knowing about Sunday. Yet even tonight there was a plan in place, a plan that that loomed in the distance, a plan that would change the world.