mercredi 12 mars 2008

Early Easter

I briefly brought this up with my friends tonight but didn't remember the exact references to the years so I thought I'd post it on here. This year, Easter is on the 2nd earliest possible date that it can be on, which has not happened since 1913 and will not occur again until 2160. That's pretty cool :)

I'm looking forward to the Good Friday service at my church and to prepare myself for the end of the Lenten season (which, admittedly I have not done too well with this year), I've been listening to some hymns about Christ's death. I wish I owned a copy of the hymnal that's used at church but I don't. I should rectify this very soon since I'd love to have the words before me as I flip through some familiar songs; Christian bookstores sell hymnals, right?

Anyways, as I've been hearing songs like Were You There and O Sacred Head, Now Wounded, I can't help but think about a comment that one of my classmates made last semester. He was telling us how he and his wife wanted to get married on the Easter weekend but that his pastor didn't want to marry them on that Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The pastor's reasoning was that the Saturday in between was a time of mourning; therefore, my classmate and his wife ended up getting married on the Sunday because that was when the true rejoicing and celebration could take place.

I think as Protestants, we have generally become very quick to jump to the Sunday. I do love that we have all the hope and the joy in the world to look forward to since our Lord is resurrected but I also wonder what it would be like to really dwell on the sadness and grief that covered the dark days preceding Sunday. There's a song on the radio that's been playing for a while now by Tree63 called "Sunday" that I quite like and every time I hear it, it helps me to remember that I need to fully experience the Friday that happened before and to feel its gravity so that Sunday means all the much more. Here are some of its lyrics:

Broken promises, weary hearts
But one promise remains:
Crucified, He will come again
It's Friday, but Sunday is coming
It's Friday, but Sunday is coming

Chorus:
Sunday – Hallelujah – it's not so far, it's not so far away
Sunday – Hallelujah – it's not so far, it's not so far away
For some reason, Easter hits my heart more deeply than Christmas does (not to diminish Christmas at all though - the incarnation is truly wondrous news!). I think it's due to the simplicity of the holiday and how I'm not so distracted by having to do all of the things I typically would have to do for Christmas. It somewhat sneaks up on me, while at the same time consuming all of my attention because it's impossible to miss. The message of Christ who died and was raised to life again is so overwhelming that I am grateful for the season of preparation and reflection; what a change from the chaos of Christmas. It's a time to really ponder the cross and the empty grave. In these coming days, I hope to gain a deeper understanding of the Passion Week and to take the time to live through each of those days, absorbing all that there is to the Friday, Saturday and (glorious!) Sunday.

Libellés :

posted by Neely @ 1:59 a.m.  |