Lent

We all have our own traditions around Easter—egg hunts, family lunches, Easter lilies, and meaningful worship. This year, those traditions will not be the same, and yet, we believe that just like every Easter before, the sun will rise, and something will be different.

This year, despite our physical distance, we invite you to carve out some sacred space in the comfort of your own home to recognize the holiness of this day.

This is a simple liturgy for your own personal Easter Sunrise service. Why sunrise? Every year, thousands of people celebrate Easter at sunrise because the women discovered the empty tomb early in the morning, “while it was still dark” (John 20:1). Therefore, we invite and challenge you to be like these brave biblical women, to rise in the dark, to recognize the wilderness, and to watch the sun rise over it.

Maundy Thursday is the Thursday before Easter. “Maundy” means commandment, referencing the new commandment Jesus gave his disciples on this day; for it was on this day that Jesus had his last meal with his disciples. Jesus broke bread, washed the disciples’ feet, and hinted at his coming crucifixion and betrayal. At the time, the disciples did not realize the significance of this moment, but now we recognize how powerful and special this last supper was. As a result, it is our Christian tradition to celebrate this evening with the gift of worship and the sacrament of Communion, just as the disciples did on that night.

This year, we are unable to gather together in person to share in Communion and to honor this sacred night, so we have adapted this at-home liturgy to serve as a reminder that God meets us at every table. Every meal we share is a reminder of the holy meal we share during Communion. May this liturgy be a source of reorientation to the sacredness all around us.

Faith matters. That sentence is both as simple and as complex as I can get this month. It hit me like a ton of bricks as I was pondering the reality of Easter and why, year after year, we tell the story of Jesus, proclaim the new life found in resurrection on a daily basis, and attempt to make sense of the events of life that seem so senseless. We do this because faith matters.

So, yes, the pollinator box started me off on a theological musing about how faith is sometimes right in front of us and sometimes not. And like the pollinators, faith needs a place to call home, a few things to assist in the building process, and the right place to do its work. Weird, but this Palm Sunday, I was ok with weird.

I wore out my last pair of slippers, so I just bought these new ones. I’ll be honest: I bought the cheapest ones that were available in the brand that I need to wear to help my foot issue from about a year ago. And then, just for fun, I looked up the meaning of the panda bear as a spirit animal. I mean, yes, this was a clearance purchase, but maybe, just maybe, there was a message?