How’s That New Life Working for You?
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil; hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal; be ardent in spirit; serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; pursue hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. – Romans 12:9-15 (NRSVUE)
Trumpets. Lilies and daffodils. Alleluias. Flowered-covered crosses and behatted heads. Soaring anthems. Energy. Hope. And so much joy.
Remember? Was it really less than three weeks ago that we celebrated Easter Sunday and the promise of resurrection? Was it that recently that so much seemed possible?
Ugh. So much troubled water under the bridge since then. So much old life since then.
It’s along about now that I remember Easter is a season. It’s right around now that I start thinking we need Eastertide practices at least as much as Lenten ones. Forget New Year’s resolutions; we need Eastertide rituals and support systems to keep us from falling back into our comfortable tombs and, instead, usher us into that promised land known as new life.
Well, it’s never too late to begin. Exactly what we decide to undertake is less important than taking on something, and any one of the practices listed in Romans 12 is worthy of our attention and intention. (Father Gregory Boyle says intention is our secret superpower.)
It’s Eastertide, after all. Let’s live it up!
Prayer
That the celebration of love triumph over death lasts more than one day, and that we have our whole lives to become new, all praise be yours.
About the AuthorVicki Kemper is the Pastor of First Congregational, UCC, of Amherst, Massachusetts.