Meditation and Prayer:
Happy Easter, everyone. It is a Happy Day. It’s a day to remember important stuff: The Easter bunny. The decorating of eggs, the hiding of eggs and the thrill of children searching for those eggs. Baskets with the green shredded paper in which nestled jellybeans, those choice Cadbury eggs, and who could forget the Peeps (I have a daughter who still can’t get enough of them, and she is a grandmother! How so like all of us.). And, there, just beside the basket, a chocolate bunny, so large as to boggle our young eyes!
Of course, we are called away from the Easter egg hunt, and the basket of candy, to attend the Easter service, praising the Lord, and saying with conviction; He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed! The church was so beautifully, decorated with lilies, white lilies everywhere. And the choir singing all those wonderful Easter hymns: ‘Crown Him with Many Crowns’, ‘Blessed Assurance’, and ‘Up From the Gravy He Arose’, I mean Grave! And maybe, throughout this wonderful praise service, in your young mind, you might be thinking of what would be coming next, or, when will this service be over? Impatient for what’s next.
What is next? The Easter Dinner! Oh, my! The Easter Ham, or perhaps luscious baby-back ribs, and those potatoes that only mother or grandma can fix, an ocean of gravy, and always, always the green-bean casserole, and then, The Pies. Oh, The Pies!
I can still hear my German grandfather, setting still another record for long, long prayers, while this 6-year-old hungry boy sat in the midst of the aroma and the call of the food right there in front of him.
All these memories are so good and alive within each one of us. We can say that this is the day we commemorate our Lord and Savior rising from the grave, but this is the day that we, too, rise to a new life, a new life in God, a new life in Jesus Christ.
And what about us? What about this present isolation, this present limited freedom? Limited freedom? How about, extended time spent with loved ones, time devoted to devotion, to expressions of love, to reaching out to others, maybe taking inventory of our blessings, and putting our gratitude and thankfulness there in the forefront of our minds and hearts. This is the gift. It is the same gift of Easter, the gift of the Resurrection. Did it take a virus to open our eyes? Thank you, Lord, for all of this. Yes, this is the day the Lord has made, our day, and we do rejoice. Amen.
Worship:
So, we can be in church? Check TV listings throughout the day. Each network – TBN, NBC, ABC, FOX, CNN – all have services at various times throughout the day. Check on David Jeremiah, Charles Stanley, Joyce Meyer, Prince, Robert Morris, and many others.
Remember when you express love to others, the least of these brothers and sisters, you are expressing love for the Lord and Savior. Amen? Amen!
