First Week of Easter: From FEAR to LIGHT
Photo will be revealed on Wednesday.
STEP ONE: BREATHE
Take a deep, cleansing breath. Allow the air to fill your lungs and expand your body. Exhale and empty yourself into the room. Repeat three times - once for the one who Created you, once for the Incarnate One who walks beside you, and once for the Spirit whose life fills your being.
STEP TWO: DWELL IN WORD
“I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live.... “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.”
Introduction to Week One:
Today’s Easter church celebration was like no other. The usual throngs of worshippers were reduced to you and/or your family huddled around an iPad or computer. We longed to hear the trumpets and choirs and bands live; to sing and shout our Alleluias (which we may have done anyway), to give a spirited handshake or hug to our fellow church members with the glorious announcement “Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed!”
The COVID-19 virus pandemic has caused the cancellation of many significant events…school for our children, school events for our older children and student athletes, graduation for our senior students, birthday parties for young and old alike, church services and the list goes on and on. Many of these events are significant life passages in our lives and in the lives of those we love. Do you remember your senior prom and graduation? What will today’s students think of years from now when they are asked about who they took to the prom or who was their commencement speaker. We feel a deep sense of disappointment and loss for ourselves and others.
As event after event is canceled or postponed until some unknown later date, we can begin to fear that this cancellation of things will never end, that many significant events will fall to the wayside and we will miss out on the joy and experience of being human and doing the things humans do to mark those significant events.
In our sorrow, do God and Jesus have something to say to us? As this first week of our Easter celebration unfolds we will see one instance when the disciples of Jesus experienced something very similar to what we are feeling and they will hear the promise of Jesus’ presence which will bring inner peace and hope
STEP THREE: PRAY
O God, in the midst of our disappointments, help us to hold onto those things that are of the most importance including you, our family and our friends. Amen.
Today’s devotion is by Pastor Dennis Sepper. Pastor Dennis has served churches in Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota and Washington State. He is retired after serving 20 years as a University Pastor at Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma Washington.
Copyright 2020. Dennis Sepper. Permission granted to share with family and friends.