Easter- A Time of Waking Up
Rachael Chappell

Easter is a time of waking up. The Earth awakens and we emerge from our homes to feel the sunlight and warmth on our bare skin. We made it. God is good! There is life after winter. For many of us, however, the rising temperatures do not reflect the pain that marches on, the relentless sting of life. That loved one is still gone; relationships are still difficult and the daily struggle seems endless. How can I feel the warmth when my heart still feels frozen? What does it matter? Life is brutal whether the flowers bloom or not.

But they do bloom, despite the ever-present heartache. God continues to send us little love notes of encouragement. He promises to be with us, to witness the struggle and to weep when we weep.

Sally Clarkson, one of my favorite religious authors, wrote in her book “The Life-Giving Home”, “The remnants of Eden reach out to me in the very stuff of the everyday, silvered shards of ideal beauty glittering through the daily muck. I see it in the sunlight on my table, the scent of coffee, the flight of a song… In those moments, I am aware that beauty speaks. That loveliness tells me of something beyond the brokenness. Every experience of joy I find is the promise of a coming and complete redemption.”

I echo her testimony, that Jesus lives and that he will redeem all things. He loves you, regardless of who you are or what you’ve experienced. He wants to speak to you, soothe your troubled soul, and put his arm around you. Let him. It may come in the form of a fresh breeze, or the smile of a stranger. Perhaps it will come like it did most recently for me, in a moment of quiet contemplation when the tightness in my heart loosened unexpectedly and I was ready to move on and forgive myself.

I invite you to look around this Lenten season and Easter and see the “silvered shards of ideal beauty” all around you. Let them sink into your heart, then turn like a child to the loving parents who gives. Grab hold of that love and fling it along. Share it with someone and it will grow to fill your whole heart.

Pastor Lynette