Hi everyone!
Alleluia! He is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
I love Easter! And while Easter in itself is great and a high and holy time of the year, it is even more great (for me) knowing that I have holidays staring me right in the face! That’s right, for those of you who didn’t know, as soon as I hit “send” on this email I am off for two weeks. I am looking forward to the rest and relaxation and the time away with (not from) my family.
But, as with all holidays, there is that time right before that needs some attention to prepare for our departure. This time was no different. Actually, it was a little different in that preparing for Easter is pretty busy already, but adding the preparation for being gone for a couple weeks just adds to that pile. Chalk one up for great holiday planning, I guess (but hey, we got a great deal on flights).
So in the hectic busyness and the busy hecticness of this season and impending holidays, it is hard to just take a moment to catch my breath. And with the wife and kids catching whatever bug I had a couple weeks ago, it just makes it all the more busy and hectic (and whatever other combination of those two descriptions you can think of).
But I thank God for the break, as it is very much welcomed!
The readings for next week are:
Acts 2:14a, 22-32
Psalm 16
I Peter 1:3-9
John 20:19-31
It is like the lectionary writers know about how busy things get for Easter, and they put this text right at the beginning of the season. Now, this text isn’t just about the doubt that Thomas felt, but it is more about the peace that Jesus gives.
I love how the gospel story explains it, as the disciples were hiding behind the locked doors, Jesus enters. Jesus enters into their space, into their lives, into their hearts, and to them he says “peace be with you” and assures them that he is real, he is present, and he is with them.
That is awesome. Knowing that whatever we are going through, whatever stresses and worries we may have, whatever hectic busyness we may be enduring, that Jesus is with us, entering beyond the walls we hide behind, and grants us peace.
This will be on my mind as I embark on my travels, as I watch over and care for my family, and as I think of all of you as one community and body of Christ, shining this love and peace into the world.
So I thank God for this peace, for rest, and for the community that we are put in as we are supported and loved by each other in the name of Christ.
Have a great couple of weeks everyone, and we will reconnect when I return! Peace be with you!