The Day After
Mark 16:6-7
"He said, 'Don't be afraid. I know you're looking for Jesus the Nazarene, the One they nailed on the cross. He's been raised up; he's here no longer. You can see for yourselves that the place is empty.'" (The Message)
Reflection by Lillian Daniel
The day after Easter is usually very quiet in churches. The staff and volunteers are often taking some well-deserved time off. The church might even look a bit of a mess, after what may be the most highly attended service of the year. The pollen from the lilies has had time to scatter around the church, as petals droop, giving things a musty air. Coffee cups spill out of full trash cans. The phones don't ring.
I know this because I often come into church on the Monday after Easter. I love how quiet it is, and how well-used it all looks. It's like waking up the morning after a great party, but no one has a hangover.
To me, Easter is the highlight of the church year, the biggest celebration of them all, after which I can't help but ask, "So now what?" After the intensity of Holy Week, the sorrow followed by the joy, where do we go from here?
We go back to the work of living, of cleaning up the flowers, of straightening up after the party, of seeing the usual people on Sunday mornings, and not all those extras. It's hard to not feel a little sad that every Sunday can't be like Easter. It's tempting to judge the people who only come on Easter.
If they came every Sunday they would see what a loving, special place our church is! And if they don't come again, we will judge them for it. Oops. That can't be right.
I think there's a reason every Sunday can't be Easter. We're not ready for it every Sunday. We need all those other Sundays to gear up for it, to appreciate it, and then to recover from that much joy in one place.
We need a quiet Monday, so that the walls of the church can rest, the halls of the classrooms can breathe, the cloud of witnesses in heaven can sigh and remember that one day later, Christ is still risen. He is risen indeed.
Prayer
Christ the Lord is risen today. And the day after. And the day after that. Amen.
Mark 16:6-7
"He said, 'Don't be afraid. I know you're looking for Jesus the Nazarene, the One they nailed on the cross. He's been raised up; he's here no longer. You can see for yourselves that the place is empty.'" (The Message)
Reflection by Lillian Daniel
The day after Easter is usually very quiet in churches. The staff and volunteers are often taking some well-deserved time off. The church might even look a bit of a mess, after what may be the most highly attended service of the year. The pollen from the lilies has had time to scatter around the church, as petals droop, giving things a musty air. Coffee cups spill out of full trash cans. The phones don't ring.
I know this because I often come into church on the Monday after Easter. I love how quiet it is, and how well-used it all looks. It's like waking up the morning after a great party, but no one has a hangover.
To me, Easter is the highlight of the church year, the biggest celebration of them all, after which I can't help but ask, "So now what?" After the intensity of Holy Week, the sorrow followed by the joy, where do we go from here?
We go back to the work of living, of cleaning up the flowers, of straightening up after the party, of seeing the usual people on Sunday mornings, and not all those extras. It's hard to not feel a little sad that every Sunday can't be like Easter. It's tempting to judge the people who only come on Easter.
If they came every Sunday they would see what a loving, special place our church is! And if they don't come again, we will judge them for it. Oops. That can't be right.
I think there's a reason every Sunday can't be Easter. We're not ready for it every Sunday. We need all those other Sundays to gear up for it, to appreciate it, and then to recover from that much joy in one place.
We need a quiet Monday, so that the walls of the church can rest, the halls of the classrooms can breathe, the cloud of witnesses in heaven can sigh and remember that one day later, Christ is still risen. He is risen indeed.
Prayer
Christ the Lord is risen today. And the day after. And the day after that. Amen.
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