Sunday is Easter for those of us in the Western form of Christianity. My Orthodox friends have to wait a week longer. I pray for you that the day is full of joy. And I pray that it is full of hope. These are the great gifts of Easter: joy and hope. As I’ve noted […]
Monday Meditation: RCL Year C, Easter, Luke 24:1-12
Luke 24:1-12 The lectionary Gospel for Easter is Luke 24:1-12. (John 20:1-18 is always listed as an alternative, but this is Luke’s year, so we have an option from his Gospel.) Caring Friends The women planned carefully, but there was no rush. Jesus, after all, had been dead since Friday afternoon. Faithful to God’s command, […]
I Interview Laura Alary, “Make Room: A Child’s Guide to Lent and Easter”
This week I interview Laura Alary: a very dear friend, and a children’s author who has written a growing shelf of books. She takes both children and theology very seriously. My kids and I totally dig her books. Since her new kids’ book Make Room: A Child’s Guide to Lent and Easter is coming out just […]
Why Is It So Hard to Focus on Easter?
Have you ever noticed how hard it is to really give your attention to Easter? I mean the actual resurrection. The main event. It isn’t the marshmallow bunnies and chocolate eggs that distract us. Take, as an example, #1 in the sharefaith.com list of “Top 10 Easter Worship Songs” from last year. (I don’t really know […]
Vocabulary Lesson: “Easter,” “Pascha”
Why, you may ask, do Christians call the Sunday Jesus rose from the dead “Easter”? Good question. Apparently Christians are capable of getting their knickers in a knot about this: the word itself derives from an old English word, “Eostre,” which is the name of a pre-Christian deity. What? Were those rascally medievals trying to […]