Easter is Here: Now What?

In a Facebook group for clergy, this cartoon by the Rev. Jay Sidebotham is posted every year after Easter.

And, it’s not just clergy who may feel this way. Altar guild members, organists and choirs, children and youth ministry ministers, sidespeople, and more all put in a sacrificial number of hours to observe and celebrate the liturgies of Holy Week.

But after the Lenten observances, practices, and culmination in Holy Week, what’s left for Easter? When we’re at our most tired, the joy and celebration of Easter can feel like just one more thing. Or, maybe we even find ourselves missing the observance and intention we brought to Lent. The wider culture may promote indulgence, consumption, and recreation, but does it really provide wisdom on true joy and celebration? Richard Foster, a Quaker writer, talks about the importance of taking time to celebrate, he even considers it one of our spiritual disciplines. And, Jenn Giles Kemper, the creator of a day planner/rule of life guide called Sacred Ordinary Days, suggests the following practices to consider for Easter:        

• Pay attention to evidence of new life, whether in nature, relationships, people or situations
• Keep a gratitude journal for the 50 days of the Easter season       
• Take up a fifty-day practice that promotes joy, freedom and celebration         
• Pray for “resurrection eyes” that allow you to see where God is wanting to do something new

Another possibility for your Easter celebration is a devotional for the season. This idea isn’t widespread yet, so there aren’t too many resources, but here’s an online one called 50 Days of Fabulous. You can sign-up with your email and have each new post delivered to your inbox. You can look at samples from the year past. The Church of England has a daily email during Easter too. You can sign up here: https://www.churchofengland.org/pilgrim. It includes a short bible reading and invitation to reflect and act on the Lord's Prayer.

For some, the resurrection can seem a bit abstract, so another way to get more hands on this season is to make what’s called a Resurrection Garden. It’s a simple project with only a few things needed: a small pot, some rocks, grass seed, dirt, a container, twigs. Here’s a link: https://www.farmwifecrafts.com/2016/03/resurrection-garden/. My daughter and I did this last year and these are some of the thoughts that cropped up: that patience, waiting, and looking is part of the resurrection. That the exact moment is uncertain; it happens in the dark of the earth. That simple things, like watching the green blade rise, redeem daily life and bring joy. That the resurrection is also more than the return of Spring.

All these suggestions to consider and choose among for Easter aren’t meant to pile on more stuff to do. It’s meant to reorder time to reflect on what and Who is our true priority. Maybe just having a celebratory dinner halfway through the season of Easter with friends is all you need. These practices are meant to recall to us through the whole season of Easter the mystery and life of the resurrection. It's all meant to point us to Jesus, our pattern and our hope.