Easter Sunday: Pine Island Presbyterian Church
A few years ago at Christmas time I pondered the weather ~ wishing for snow instead of rain ~ and was reminded that God does not need the ideal conditions for Love to be born. That seems in part having to do with the gift of grace but that’s a thought for a different day. As snow fell this past Friday, lots of snow, at least ten inches of snow…
I pondered again how God works in wondrous and mysterious ways in less than ideal conditions. Most of the people I spoke with recently had hopes for pleasant, 30 something degrees on Easter, without a pile of snow. Certainly all those who planned Easter Egg Hunts in city parks for Saturday morning had hoped for spring-like weather, without a pile of snow. And this morning, instead of standing on a hillside, watching the sun rise on this Holy Morning, I stood in my backyard and watched the moon set behind the trees, just above the crystal white blanket of snow.
I was reminded that this cycle of life and death and new life is so much larger than our individual lives, that it is lived out within the natural order of things, and that it is inner resurrection, hope renewed and revived within the human soul, that can happen regardless of the weather outside.
There may have been snow outside but our Table and Worship space inside reminded us of this inner beauty.
And we heard the story once again of the resurrection, of life and love having the last word, of hope rising up in what certainly was less than ideal conditions. We sang of hope within us: “Because You live, O Christ, the spirit bird of hope is freed for flying; Our cages of despair no longer keep us closed and life denying.”
And, “Break the bread of new creation where the world is still in pain…Drink the wine of resurrection, not a servant, but a friend.”
May hope, may the persistence of love,
rise within you and around,
even in the midst of less than ideal conditions,
for our God is a God of great mystery!
Alleluia!!
Back Road Journey 