Easter Season

For several years, my mother has wanted to visit Amsterdam. Her great-grandfather had Dutch ancestry (Frank van Houten, buried at Riverdale Cemetery). She wanted to see his part of the world, so I planned an Easter season trip with her and my dad to Amsterdam. Hopefully, the tulips will be in full bloom.

Tulips are a parable of Easter. The bulbs look like dead rocks, but life is hidden inside. After burial for a long winter - the colder the better - they burst forth in glorious color. They invite us to look for the creative power of God alive and at work in the dead and dying places of the world.

Easter celebrates this “Paschal mystery,” as we call it. Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again. This life is not all that there is. Any suffering we may feel in the moment is not our final story. Joy comes in the morning! And even the precariousness of joy has a purpose, reminding us to live deeply, with wisdom and reverence.

So join us for Holy Week, walking with Jesus to the Cross. Join us for Easter Day as we celebrate the resurrection. Then join us for Easter season as we live into the resurrection of Jesus for the next 50 days!

Blessings,

Rev. Grace

---