Has winter gotten you down?

Are you ready for a glimpse of spring?

Does your spirit need spring-time growth?

Easter has traditionally been a time within the church to celebrate God's gift of resurrected life. Through the resurrection of Jesus, the emptiness of a tomb, we find the promise and hope that God will bring life to us at the time of our death. Resurrection is what we Christians hold onto through trials, sufferings, and dying.

Resurrection is also for our life - today. Easter is about God's victory over death in all of its forms and traces in our lives. Easter invites us into a lifestyle that is full and abundant with God's love, grace, forgiveness, generosity, and compassion. Easter beckons us beyond ourselves to a place where we are present wherever life is hard, struggling, and dying.

Although our consumerist culture has collapsed the celebration of Easter to a single day that focuses on bunnies and chocolates - the celebration of Easter in the church lasts 50 days. For ten more days than the season of Lent, we give thanks to God for the Risen life of Christ. In fact, the celebration never really ends because each Sunday is seen as a "little Easter."

To move us from a single day chocolate fest, this spiritual guidebook will last for the full season of Easter. Each prayer is accompanied by a photo that I've taken in my travels near and far. It is my hope that they shine a little light on your path as we watch the snow eventually melt and flowers bloom.

In Christ's Light,

Walt