Easter

Happy Easter, everyone!  I wish you all the blessings and joy of this season, and hope that you have been able to spend time with loved ones.  It was a beautiful sunny day, still a bit cool, but it was pretty.  My back persists in hurting, and I’m getting really rather annoyed as it’s been 5 days since my trip and it’s my belief that by now I should have got some relief.  I was, though, able to reduce my pills by about half, so it’s closer to where it was when I left Ottawa.  My boys were all happy this morning, although Don complained again about overeating.  Jerry, of course, doesn’t approve of me being away and still is sulking at me over video calls.

I was allowed to sleep for an extra bit this morning, until my niece peeped around my door and said, “It’s time to get up!”  Then they both climbed on my lap, carrying books, because the books can’t read themselves, and it’s apparently my routine on non-daycare mornings to read (repeatedly) a couple of books.  Today, though, we had some extra fun as I asked them to read to me; he sang all the words to a modified Wheels on the Bus twice in succession, and she told a more complicated story.  So I’ll make use of that once in a while.  We’ve also begun on French numbers and letters, as she begins French immersion in the fall, and that’s also a distraction.  They are concerned that Auntie isn’t eating — I was told that I can’t have popsicles until I finish my dinner — but they’re also willing to share, so they offered me each a bite of their popsicles.  (I pretended to bite, as he has a runny nose and I’m cautious of infection.). They were out again today for a free swim, and came home full of details of what they did.  Very sweet!  She’s now prowling around chanting, “I’m going to hug someone who’s wearing…” and concluded that I’m in rainbow colours, so I get rainbow hugs 🤗😂

I was able to spend a little time today in meditation on the resurrection, which led to a few deep thoughts.  The main one was the role of Mary Magdalene.  First at the tomb, she told the disciples that Jesus’ body was missing, then when she saw Jesus she at first thought he was the gardener.  It gives pause, that someone who was so close to Jesus looked at him and didn’t see him.  It’s not altogether surprising, as she saw a  living person where she expected a corpse.  But it does highlight a risk that we don’t see what’s in front of us because we expect to see something else.  If we go into a situation with our minds already made up, it’s very possible that we’ll miss the obvious.  I mean, it’s not likely that we’ll see the resurrected body of deceased relatives or friends, but when we take too much for granted we can miss important moments.  Someone had noted that we often work harder at our relationships with friends than family because we expect that family will always be available to us, and will remain unchanged.  But things do evolve as time passes, even our usually reliable, stable families.    The other thing that stood out today was the fact that the stone of the tomb had been rolled away.  Have there been times in your life when an obstacle was moved before you had to fully deal with it?  Perhaps you were anticipating a difficult job interview that turned out to be easier than expected?  Mary and the women went to the tomb, wondering how they would get in to anoint the body, but the obstacle — the stone — had been moved.  That was one in a chain of remarkable events that deeply touched the women and the disciples.  It’s an oversimplification on my part to refer to removed obstacles, but I hope that you’ve got the key point of not allowing a potential barrier to stop us from trying to achieve a goal.  The readings over the next few days focus on the time after the resurrection, where we meet the men who “recognized him in the breaking of the bread,” and the so-called Doubting Thomas, who believed because he saw.  

The thing is, of the Eleven (because Judas had already died) the rest all went on to die as martyrs because they wouldn’t yield their belief in Jesus as Messiah and the political and religious leaders determined not to have any variation in thought, so wanted anyone killed who didn’t follow the “party line.”  It’s tragic, really, that we’ve kept that practice 2000+ years later, instead of welcoming diversity.  It’s surprisingly less harmful to allow people to live their lives quietly rather than insisting on everyone being copies of each other.  Unless someone’s beliefs are actually harmful, what does it matter if they agree with you or not?  Today’s moment asks us to look into the empty tomb and see that there is no dead body there, and then to look up to the living person beside us.  The phrase that is most used today is “Don’t be afraid,” and I think it’s something that we should all use as our motto — Don’t be afraid.  The one you seek is not dead.  We are an Easter people, and our Alleluia is strong.  We should be able to greet others with warmth and love, and bring them good news, not isolate them or cause fear.

I paused in my writing for us to enjoy our excellent Easter dinner, cooked by my sister. It’s so great to have a few moments of family time together where we are able to sit, eat and talk.  I’m just having a cup of tea before bed while bath time is happening.  I’ll therefore stop here, as stories are due shortly.  Good night!