LISTEN

“On the evening of that day, the first day of the week…Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’”—JOHN 20:19 (ESV)

Reflect
“Everytime we both keep living, there’s a kind of glorious surprise.” That’s what I said to my friend and colleague Richard Hays, and for me the sentence sums up the intensity of hope— its sweetness and its pain. We were talking about the early Easter morning sunrise service, held outdoors. Both of us remember this moment vividly, because at the time we were both deep into cancer treatments. Richard was preaching\ about the resurrection, when Jesus rose from the dead, and just at that moment, the sunrise behind him spilled over the rooftop, and there it was. The glorious surprise. The moment we are grateful for another day of being alive when we both knew there was an alternative. We’re just mortal human beings, but there’s a truth we both hold, and as Richard said later, the truth we hold is this: “The mystery of our faith, that life conquers death.” And as he spoke, both of us got a little misty-eyed.

Respond
Easter eggs, baby chicks, babies, bunnies, warm fresh yeast bread or spring flowers—all these speak of life springing up anew. Pick the Easter symbol that speaks the most to you of the aroma, the color, the shape of life conquering death. Savor it, enjoy it today.

Blessing for Easter Sunday

Bless you, stretching out your hands
in the early Easter darkness,
weak and tired, longing to be lifted,
to stand again on trembling feet.

Blessed are you, who remember her—
the woman who walked to the tomb,
to do what could still be done
though all hope seemed drained away.

Blessed are you, who carry her story:
the two bright angels, the impossible news,
the Christ, alive beyond belief.

Blessed are we, stretching out our hands
in doubt and grief,
in sickness of body, mind, or spirit,
our prayers unfinished,
and yet rejoicing . . . anyway.

This is what makes us Easter people:
carrying the hope of the Resurrected One,
singing alleluias great and small,
while it is still dark.

Christ Has Died. Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.47

47 Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie. Adapted from “For Easter Sunday” in The Lives We Actually Have: 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days. (New York: Convergent Books, 2023). 210-211.

© KateBowler.com