He is Risen

Tomb, thou shalt not hold Him longer;
Death is strong, but life is stronger;
Stronger then the dark, the light;
Stronger than the wrong, the right;
Faith and hope triumphant say
Christ will rise on Easter Day.
~ Phillips Brooks

The memories of my childhood Easter’s are vivid and wonderful. My two big sisters and I would rise to a brilliantly sunny southern California morning to find three beautifully decorated Easter baskets waiting for us. We then began our Easter egg hunt for the pretty eggs we had decorated the night before. I can still feel the excitement when my eye would catch a little glimmer of blue or pink peaking out from the leaves of one of our houseplants.

After breakfast a flurry of activity would follow as my mother and father helped to prepare three little girls for Easter Sunday Mass. This usually involved taking out pink curlers and finding buckle shoes that matched. Oh the thrill when my mom would open the closet containing the Easter bonnets and little white gloves! These were never played with or even looked at except on this holy day.

Easter Mass was celebrated with much passion and joy. This was not business as usual but a time of great elation, as our community of believers commemorated Christ rising from the dead. As Mass would come to a close the large choir would literally bring the congregation to their feet as we finished the service with a song of high praise to God.

Jesus speaks to us through the holiday of Easter reminding us of the new life that is ours if we are found in him. Easter arrives on the heals of spring and awakens in us our ever constant need for a vital, life-giving connection with our God. And just like spring so perfectly displays that the dormant will once again bloom, Easter displays that death was conquered by Christ and we can now have new life in Him!

Sometimes our relationship with the Lord can seem a little dormant (inactive, idle, hibernating). We may feel as though we’ve been in a winter season when it comes to loving and seeking God. But after a long, cold, dark winter it’s time to look around and take notice: it’s spring, it’s Easter! The sun is shining longer each day, the early flowers are starting to poke through the ground and will bloom before long. The snow is melting, the birds are singing and days are warming.

And best of all: He Is Risen!

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Paula Friedrichsen is a conference speaker and the author of "The Man You Always Wanted is The One You Already Have" (Multnomah 2007). She lives with her husband and daughter in Northern California.
© 2008 Paula Friedrichsen - All rights reserved.
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