The Gift of Easter is Hope
Happy Easter and Passover! I don't know about you, but I find it hard to achieve the right mindset for celebration this year. How can we celebrate new life when over 100,000 people are dead from coronavirus? How can we celebrate humanity when people everywhere are hoarding goods and selfishly ignoring shelter in place orders? How can we express hope and joy when so many of the things that bring us happiness have been taken away? How can we ponder resurrection and the journey to freedom when our own rebirth seems so distant? In my own personal life, there is a lot of fear of the unknown as I return to work this week in acute care and support family members through their own difficult journeys with physical and mental health.
What does this journey mean to you this year? In some ways Easter seems so far from our current reality that it's hard to imagine celebrating it, while in other ways it seems more relevant and necessary than ever.
It gives me hope to witness the rebirth that is happening all around us. Bulbs planted last fall are blooming, birds are chirping in the flowering trees, babies are being born, people are recovering from the virus. People are finding creative ways to support each other and to connect in new ways. Miracles are happening with medical advancements to combat this disease, technological innovations to connect people, and shifts in production to meet necessary demands.
There is hope that communities will rebuild and that we will embark upon the journey toward resurrection, even if that remains in the distant future. But I don't think we will ever have the lives we had before. Our society is permanent changed, our worldview transformed. What we can hope for, though, is a new dawn. We can come out of this stronger than before and with a renewed sense of what is important.
Another thing I have found helpful is to recall memories of Easters past and try to maintain some normalcy by upholding traditions. This weekend we did an egg hunt in the yard, created some Easter-themed art, read stories about bunnies, worked on our Gratitude Tree, sang songs, talked on the phone with friends, and baked a coconut cake. We had baskets of goodies this morning and celebrated Meredith's first Easter Sunday. We had Zoom meetings with family and I did my Sunday (virtual) yoga. I scrolled through old pictures of Ady and compared her and Meredith at their first Easters. We got outside and enjoyed the warm weather before the impending snowstorm.
Humor is also really therapeutic for me, so I laugh with friends, share inside jokes with Jaycob, and find the humor in things our kids do. Ady wanted to share my enthusiasm for the spring flowers this week by excitedly celebrating the growth of dandelions around the neighborhood. (Needless to say, yesterday's bike ride involved a lot of breaks to admire the foliage.) I miss the freedom of being able to do things around town without restrictions and being able to get together with friends, but I'm also learning to appreciate our time at home.
Resurrection will happen for all of us but is something we must actively bring about through our own actions and intentions. Just like in epidemics, wars, and natural disasters of the past, this dark period will end and we will rebuild.
Stay strong and healthy, friends.
What does this journey mean to you this year? In some ways Easter seems so far from our current reality that it's hard to imagine celebrating it, while in other ways it seems more relevant and necessary than ever.
It gives me hope to witness the rebirth that is happening all around us. Bulbs planted last fall are blooming, birds are chirping in the flowering trees, babies are being born, people are recovering from the virus. People are finding creative ways to support each other and to connect in new ways. Miracles are happening with medical advancements to combat this disease, technological innovations to connect people, and shifts in production to meet necessary demands.
There is hope that communities will rebuild and that we will embark upon the journey toward resurrection, even if that remains in the distant future. But I don't think we will ever have the lives we had before. Our society is permanent changed, our worldview transformed. What we can hope for, though, is a new dawn. We can come out of this stronger than before and with a renewed sense of what is important.
Another thing I have found helpful is to recall memories of Easters past and try to maintain some normalcy by upholding traditions. This weekend we did an egg hunt in the yard, created some Easter-themed art, read stories about bunnies, worked on our Gratitude Tree, sang songs, talked on the phone with friends, and baked a coconut cake. We had baskets of goodies this morning and celebrated Meredith's first Easter Sunday. We had Zoom meetings with family and I did my Sunday (virtual) yoga. I scrolled through old pictures of Ady and compared her and Meredith at their first Easters. We got outside and enjoyed the warm weather before the impending snowstorm.
Humor is also really therapeutic for me, so I laugh with friends, share inside jokes with Jaycob, and find the humor in things our kids do. Ady wanted to share my enthusiasm for the spring flowers this week by excitedly celebrating the growth of dandelions around the neighborhood. (Needless to say, yesterday's bike ride involved a lot of breaks to admire the foliage.) I miss the freedom of being able to do things around town without restrictions and being able to get together with friends, but I'm also learning to appreciate our time at home.
Resurrection will happen for all of us but is something we must actively bring about through our own actions and intentions. Just like in epidemics, wars, and natural disasters of the past, this dark period will end and we will rebuild.
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| Tulips from my garden |
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| Meredith's first Easter |
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| Backyard egg hunt |
Stay strong and healthy, friends.
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| Easter yoga at home |
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