The Paradox of Easter

It was a real joy to celebrate Easter with all of you! From the signs of new life in the cemetery at sunrise, to the smiles on the children's faces, to Laura Lee's exhortation to pick up where Mark's Gospel left off and tell the good news, to the glorious Hallelujah chorus...I left feeling uplifted and hopeful.

I was especially struck, though, by the paradox of celebrating resurrection in the cemetery. But isn't that what Easter is? It's a paradox, this faith in resurrection and faith that God has conquered death, while death still happens all around us, and we still live with the pain of loss.

As you all know, I have had some losses in my own life recently, and our church has also experienced losses these past few months. I've been reading a lot of online resources about grieving, and I found this reflection by Jeffrey Reed helpful. I hope you will, too. Have a blessed week, and wherever you find yourself - I hope that you are guided by faith and that you feel embraced by our church community, for you are loved.

Blessings,

Manda

This reflection by Jeffrey Reed was posted by Nancy Weil on her blog at Legacy Connect. Click here to read her posts.

May Faith Guide You

During the season of Lent we are asked to sacrifice, we also sacrifice during the grief process. The word sacrifice means: the giving up of something valued or important. During the grief process both pre- and post-death we are asked to sacrifice and we do so freely. Our day-to-day routines change, our social life goes on hold as we shuttle back and forth from the doctor or the hospital visits. While the Lenten season is measured in days forty (40) the grief process has its own time frame... Forever! The grief we endure with the loss of a loved one will never go away. The pain and hurt we feel will slowly lessen. We get BY; we do what we have to do, we trudge along. As we get BETTER the days do not seem to be as long and we begin to see glimpses of whom we were prior to our loss. Then we get BEYOND; it is not that we forget those that we loved, we still miss their smile, their tender touch and their voice still resonates in our ears and heart.

Hope brings us through this period of adjustment. Our faith continues to guide us, our prayers never stop and we hope that the new life we have been left with will be as rewarding as the one we just lost. We need to mourn at our own pace, our time table may not be the same as someone else’s and that is OK. There is no calendar for grief, you are in control and it is you who turns the pages as the days, weeks and months go by.

As we journey through this life change we need to take care of ourselves spiritually, physically and mentally as we adapt to our new life without the one we loved. We need to keep in mind that God is much kinder and gentler on us than we are on ourselves. We take on new tasks and responsibilities that our loved one once took control of. While stressful at times, this learning curve will work itself out.

The resurrection of Jesus symbolized eternal life granted to those who believed in him. The same holds true for those we have loved and lost. They will always be with us in our hearts, our mind and our soul. There is new life after death; your life will take on new meaning, a new direction and a new purpose.

We need to let our faith guide us through the grief process. We need to keep reminding ourselves that the strong love we have for God will allow us to keep our love strong for those who have passed before us.

No one needs to travel the path of grief alone. Take the hand of those who have extended their help and support. Embrace your life with the same vigor you did when you met that special someone. Remember Jesus died and then rose again for you!

Weekday Christians

As I was reflecting on Holy Week and what I might have to share with you today, I was thinking about the fact that I grew up in a Christian church that didn't observe Holy Week, or much of the liturgical year at all. In my childhood understanding, Lent, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday were all things that Catholics did, and they were just rituals with no meaning. And as for Easter, well, my childhood church said, "Every Sunday is Easter."

In my early adulthood, I learned (ironically, from a church within the same tradition as my childhood church)  that there could be a rhythm to the church year, a cycling through the scriptures and also through the life of Jesus and of the early church that we could mirror in our life together in our present-day church. I finally understood why Holy Week could be meaningful to so many Christians.

While there is some truth in saying that every Sunday we can celebrate resurrection and new life (Easter), what about every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday? I love what UCC pastor Emily Heath says in her article, "Holy Week and the Importance of Weekday Christians":

"To me, the most comforting part of Holy Week is not the waving of triumphal palms on one Sunday morning, or the flowers and joyous hymns on the next. It's what happens in between. It's Jesus on Maundy Thursday sharing a table with the people he loved the most. It's him washing their feet, and showing that the mark of a true leader is whether they can serve others. It's Jesus still loving those disciples even though he knew that, at best, they would abandon him, and at worst, they would betray him. And it's Jesus in the garden, alone, heart-broken, and struggling between what he wanted to do and what he knew he had to do.


And on Good Friday, it continues. The world turns against him, and the ones who cheered his entry in Jerusalem instead cheer his death. He suffers. He calls out to a God who does not seem to answer. He doubts. He feels pain, and loss, and grief. And in the end he loses the life he knew....


What if we became known not just as the people who knew what to do on Sundays, but the ones who knew how to stay with you when your life was falling apart, just as Christ asks us to do on Maundy Thursday? Or the ones who could stand by and still love and respect you even when you call out your doubts, as Jesus did on the cross? What would happen if we weren't just know for our Easter Sunday celebrations, but for our Thursday night solidarity? Our Friday afternoon compassion?


We have the capacity to be those people. We have it because Christ has called us to be those people. All we have to do is be willing to make the journey with him. Not just on Sundays, but on the days between. The world has plenty of Sunday morning Christians. It needs a few more of the weekday ones."

I hope you will join us this Holy Week, as it provides unique opportunities to join our own human journeys with that of Jesus and his earliest followers. Enter the story and share communion with us on Maundy Thursday at 7pm. Reflect on the crucifixion and pray for reconciliation with us on Good Friday at 6pm. And on Holy Saturday, wherever you are, spend some time in prayer for those who are hungry (sign up here).

I believe that as we practice being weekday Christians, we will find Easter all the more glorious.

Blessings and peace,

Manda

Give Us this Day...

During Manda's first interview with the search committee, she invited us to offer the Lord's Prayer on behalf of those who worry each day about their 'daily bread'. This practice has added new depth and power to this familiar part of my own spiritual life.

Throughout Lent, our focus has been on the bread we eat and the cup from which we drink at the table of communion. And, as we transition through Holy Week into the Easter Season, we are invited to think about ways that we are called to feed and serve others.

To prepare for a month of Outreach Committee emphasis on feeding people locally and globally through our giving and our actions, you are invited to participate in a church-wide Prayer Vigil on Holy Saturday (April 7) from 6:00 p.m. until midnight (Easter Sunday). This is an important way for us to be the church in prayer. You are being asked to commit to dedicating a specific time to pray for people who are hungry in the world, at home or on a walk or wherever you may be. You may sign up for 20 minute periods of time and as many people as possible may sign up for the same period. There will be an opportunity to sign up at church on Sunday morning and next week, you will be able to sign up online at fccithaca.org.

Eat This Bread.... Drink This Cup and in gratitude, let us help to bring the bread of life and the cup of the new covenant to those who are hungry and thirsty. Let us pray together, eat together and work together........

Blessings, Laura Lee

Farewell to Meat

That's right, I said it, farewell to meat. So now that I have your attention, no, this is not going to be a post about why you should become a vegetarian. But as I was reading about the origins of Mardi Gras, also called Shrove (Confession) Tuesday or Fat Tuesday, I learned that Carnival is from the Latin carne vale, or "farewell to meat."

Traditionally, many Christians would give up meat for the Lenten season, and they would have one last feast on Fat Tuesday. Today, many people still feast and celebrate on Fat Tuesday, but they don't follow that with a time of fasting during Lent. And many others do use Lent as a time of fasting, self-reflection, and spiritual growth.

When I was growing up, I always thought Lent was a Catholic thing, that time when people talked about giving up chocolate or television or meat. After college, I began attending a church that observed Lent, and I learned that there was value in "giving it up," letting go of something that distracts me from my walk with God. That can be different from year to year - from caffeine, to watching the news, to late night television. One year I gave up stress - meaning that I intentionally took better care of myself.

I suppose that fits better with another practice that some Christians prefer, that of taking something on for Lent. Whether it be a new discipline of regular prayer, reading scripture, attending worship, exercising, eating mindfully and compassionately, or spending more time with a loved one, there are many practices we can intentionally take on to make Lent a more meaningful and fulfilling time.

The United Church of Christ has developed a calendar with suggested practices of each day for Lent - click here to download the PDF. You can print it and put it on your refrigerator or desk. Join us tomorrow evening at 7 as we begin the Lenten journey with a lovely Ash Wednesday service.

For today, feast and celebrate, and say a fond farewell to those things and practices and behaviors that don't serve you well in your walk with God and with others. And if you find you really miss them, they'll be there waiting for you on Easter. Or maybe, just maybe, you'll find you don't miss them after all!

Blessings and peace,
Manda