Get this.  Today I washed the car, enjoyed the flowers in the yard, took a walk and listened to the Tigers on the radio…. ALL outside!  Spring has arrived.  I think I can safely move the snow blower from it’s privileged place in the front of the garage to the ‘wait ’til next year’ spot in the back. Make way for the lawnmower!!  I wasn’t that long ago that we had snow piles slowly shrinking as their stores of water slowly leaked into the soil.  I knew spring would get here.  It always does.

It wasn’t that long ago that a group of us were together in Israel.  Ten months ago, as a matter of fact… We walked through the wilderness, were refreshed at En Gedi, remembered the words of Jesus as we wandered the land God chose to work out his redemption plan.  Ten months ago the pictures in my head were reworked so that now as I read stories in the Bible, listen to sermons or sing songs, the new images emerge.  The emotions still lurk just below the surface as a couple of us found out recently when asked about our Israel experience.

Tomorrow is Easter!  I’d like to say that exactly ten months ago tomorrow we were at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Gethsemane, Mount of Olives or the Garden Tomb.  We weren’t.  We were on the way though, working our way from the region of Galilee to Jerusalem.  I specifically remember thinking/wondering/worrying how I’d handle the emotional climax of the trip – you know the old chin-quiver, lump-in-the-throat, lip biting…  You see, just like I knew that spring would come (even with two feet of snow in my backyard), I knew the Easter part of the trip was coming. …and now Easter is here again… and again… and again… Every Sunday is a celebration on the risen Lord, right?  So celebrate!  Tomorrow is Easter!  Christ has risen.  He has risen indeed!

“This Joyful Eastertide”
Had Christ, who once was slain,
not burst his three-day prison,
our faith had been in vain.
But now has Christ arisen,
arisen, arisen, arisen.

 – George Woodward (1984)