Christ is risen, He is risen indeed! These words echo in my heart on this day after Easter Sunday and I am so glad that Easter is notarially over yet. “Resurrection surprises us, but it never surprises God. The Easter season does not end with Easter Sunday however. It extends until Pentecost and celebrates both the resurrection of Jesus and also the many ways the resurrected Christ comes to meet us and is expressed through our lives.” (Meditation Monday: Living in the Glow of Easter).
There were some great posts published during Holy Week on Godspace. If you missed out last week it is not too late to read these. Joy Lenton’s Shift: Receiving a New Life and Identity in Christ and Lilly Lewin’s Freerange Friday: A Very Different Holy Week are must reads, as is Carol Dixon’s A Reflection for Holy Week. It is more than a reflection, it is a beautiful service outline that could easily be used as a post Easter retreat time. April Yamasaki’s You Are My Hiding Place is also beautiful and worthy of time slept in meditation. You might also like to check out my Holy Saturday Prayer which I posted on Instagram and Facebook this week.
I love this season of Easter. Here in Seattle, not only is spring bursting into bloom all around me, but the lengthening of days and the warmer weather immerses me with a warm glow of exultation and wonder. This week it is my hyacinths and camellias that are in full bloom. Next week the Asian pear will join them and not long behind will be the tulips and then the apple blossoms. I feel as though our celebration of Easter should extend as long as the springtime here in Seattle so I am always grateful for the extent of the Easter season. It’s a good time not just to plant new seeds in the garden but also in the world around us. Even for those in the Southern Hemisphere, it is worth remembering that in nature, most seeds are scattered in the autumn. Seeds of love, seeds of hope, seeds of compassion and caring. Ask yourself what you can do to fully live out the resurrected life of Jesus this year.
My love of this season and my growing concern for climate change and God’s care for creation encouraged me to make Climate Change and Creation Flourishing. Our focus for the Easter season. In May we will have solar panels installed, and regularly challenge ourselves to consider how we might live more sustainably on the earth, something that I know many of you are passionate about too. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I believe “Climate change requires spiritual transformation. We need to transform our view of the Bible to see the ecological underpinnings of the story”.
Earth Day and Earth Sunday are only a couple of weeks away, so this is a good time to start thinking about how we responsibly and sustainably care for God’s creation and those whose lives are so drastically impacted by changing weather patterns and rising sea levels. Don’t forget to check out our many and varied creation care resources. Last week I mentioned that we are putting together our own Godspacelight resource “Simple Ways to Care for the Earth.”, on affordable and simple actions we can all take to make a difference. We would love this to be a community effort so please consider contributing to this. What are some simple steps you have taken to live more responsibly and sustainably? Let us know. As we want this to be available by Earth Day we need these by the end of this week.
Next Sunday is known as Holy Humour Sunday. I only learned about this a few years ago, but resurrecting the practice of humour seems like a great plan for the coming week. Sadly many of us don’t really feel its OK to laugh and have fun in church. We grew up with an authoritarian God who is always serious and never playful. Now it’s time to change. So think of ways to bring laughter, both into your life and into your church and let us know what happens.
Many blessings on you this Easter season
May the life of the Triune God be with you this day.
Love of the Creator fill your heart,
Light of the Risen One guide your steps,
Hope of the Indwelling One teach your minds.
Life of the Three sustain you,
Love of the One encircle you
Now and always, this day and forever.
Christine Sine