Easter! A Really New Day
Excerpt from Mark 16:1-8
"And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb."
Reflection by Talitha Arnold
The sun came up that day.
That's the one tangible thing about Easter the four Gospel writers agree on. They don't see eye to eye on any other details of the most important event in the Christian faith. Was it a group of women who went to the tomb or just Mary Magdalene? Did they go before dawn or after daybreak? One man or two who greeted them? In Mark, the women run away and don't tell anyone. In Luke, they tell the disciples who don't believe them.
But the writers do agree the sun came up that first Easter.
This morning at my church, some of us will gather outside in darkness for the Easter Sunrise Service. It's never a big group. Sometimes my fingers are too cold to strum the guitar. Since we also have indoor Easter services filled with people, lilies and even The Hallelujah Chorus, one could argue a Sunrise Service makes no sense.
Every Easter Eve, when I set my alarm for 4:00 am, I remember the bleary-eyed teenager who once advised, "Talitha, next year it's an Easter Sunset service. Got it?" But I also remember the sunrise services growing up in South Phoenix. The mystery of gathering in the darkness, the sweet smell of the cool desert air, the sense of awe as the world came alive with the new light of dawn.
I remember, too, later Easters as a young adult when I felt far from God. The Easters when, because of family sorrows, all I could believe was that the sun would come up and it would be a new day.
It did and it was.
Maybe this is an Easter of Hallelujah Choruses and all kinds of new life for you. Perhaps, though, all you can believe in is that the sun will rise, and it will be a new day. If so, take heart. Sometimes that's all the rest of us can believe in, too. In fact, it's the one thing those Gospel writers could all agree on.
The sun came up and it was a really new day. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia!
Prayer
Thank you, God, for this new day. Thank you for the new life of Easter, however it comes to us this year. Amen.
Excerpt from Mark 16:1-8
"And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb."
Reflection by Talitha Arnold
The sun came up that day.
That's the one tangible thing about Easter the four Gospel writers agree on. They don't see eye to eye on any other details of the most important event in the Christian faith. Was it a group of women who went to the tomb or just Mary Magdalene? Did they go before dawn or after daybreak? One man or two who greeted them? In Mark, the women run away and don't tell anyone. In Luke, they tell the disciples who don't believe them.
But the writers do agree the sun came up that first Easter.
This morning at my church, some of us will gather outside in darkness for the Easter Sunrise Service. It's never a big group. Sometimes my fingers are too cold to strum the guitar. Since we also have indoor Easter services filled with people, lilies and even The Hallelujah Chorus, one could argue a Sunrise Service makes no sense.
Every Easter Eve, when I set my alarm for 4:00 am, I remember the bleary-eyed teenager who once advised, "Talitha, next year it's an Easter Sunset service. Got it?" But I also remember the sunrise services growing up in South Phoenix. The mystery of gathering in the darkness, the sweet smell of the cool desert air, the sense of awe as the world came alive with the new light of dawn.
I remember, too, later Easters as a young adult when I felt far from God. The Easters when, because of family sorrows, all I could believe was that the sun would come up and it would be a new day.
It did and it was.
Maybe this is an Easter of Hallelujah Choruses and all kinds of new life for you. Perhaps, though, all you can believe in is that the sun will rise, and it will be a new day. If so, take heart. Sometimes that's all the rest of us can believe in, too. In fact, it's the one thing those Gospel writers could all agree on.
The sun came up and it was a really new day. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia!
Prayer
Thank you, God, for this new day. Thank you for the new life of Easter, however it comes to us this year. Amen.
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