O Happy Day!

April 12, 2009


i love easter sunday. 

i love what it does to people. it seems that no matter their background, people understand that easter is special. 

everyone wakes up and despite the weather, and goes out of their way to look especially nice.

the girls find the prettiest most colorful, frilly, lacy, flowery dresses...the whitest, shiniest shoes, and they add some hats and gloves and put some extra spring into their hair. 

and the guys go along with the family color scheme in their starkly pressed suits and silky ties and squeaky clean shoes. 

and everyone comes to church. the pews are packed and everyone is smiling because it seems like no matter what is going on in the world, easter brings people back together. if only for a few hours, everyone understands the uniqueness of the day. families sit together and everyone enjoys the feeling in the air. 

there is special music and plays and always the story of our jesus followed by ham and eggs and lots and lots of chocolate. 

and while most of it is just done out of tradition, all of the tradition says something...that people understand it's a special day, or else there wouldn't be all of this tradition. 

some how, people just understand that today they should be in church and they should look their best and they should celebrate together....

and for those of us who have been doing this for years, we finally get the opportunity to tell them why they are doing the things they have always done. that there is a reason that goes much deeper than cooperate marketing and fluffy white bunny rituals. 

and that's what i love about easter. 

i am always reminded of just how much i love jesus. 

for sure i love him all year long, but there is just something about easter sunday. 

watching the plays and hearing the story of how my jesus hung on a cross and was betrayed and killed for my sake first makes me sad. it's a fact that i am very aware of, but often times too aware of. something that i think i take for granted sometimes. i always shed some tears when i think of all that he suffered for me and all that i do not do to show him my sincere gratitude. 

and then in that same moment i feel joy. that he did it for me. that he saw me and spoke my name. that even though i don't deserve it, he did it. and most of all that i don't have to earn his love or his forgiveness...he just gives it. 

and as he walks out of that grave with that classic jesus smile that i suppose i just imagine, i am so very very proud. that is my jesus...my savior...my best friend. and no matter how many people come to him and accept him, he will still be mine. 

i have never ever known a day in my life without him and his presence and his grace and forgiveness...and i never have to. 

wow.

he is the reason that i wake up with a smile in my heart...that people find their best dress of the year and put those extra curls in their hair. the reason that people find their way to the closest church...

but we have got to tell them why they are doing it. deep down inside of them they can feel it. they know today is special...they know they need to be there...they just can't seem to figure out why. they feel the need to celebrate and to officially break into the springtime....

and that's where we come in. we have to tell them. we have to show them this same attitude and love of life and sunday morning all year round. we have to make them ask..it has to drive them crazy not knowing that they just can't help but ask. 

but how can we do this when so many of us are in the same state. just wondering around aimlessly until easter sunday...and then we wake up and look our best and wonder some more into that old familiar place. but we don't know why we are there or what we believe just that we should be there. 

we have got to grasp it. 

resurrection sunday every day of the year. we have got to embody the spirit of that beautiful risen lord so that we have the answer to their seeking and not just be more seekers ourselves. 

so i encourage you...this easter...whether you are asking the question or walking in the saving knowledge of jesus christ, just take a second to think about today. to think about why you did what you did today and how you feel as a result. 

and whoever you are and wherever you are, just stop and thank jesus. 

because he is alive. that is the answer...the only answer we will ever need. 

happy easter :) (don't eat too much candy)