Easter Eggs

“If you indeed cry out for insight,
and raise your voice for understanding;
if you seek it like silver,
and search for it as for hidden treasures
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.” – Proverbs 2:3-5

I can still conjure up the feeling of being a kid on Easter morning, the magic of waking up to a world transformed, in which the mundane landscape of my house had become surprising and sweet. Every once-boring baseboard had to be scoured for its secrets. The vase I had never noticed needed triple-checking. Every taken-for-granted couch cushion had to be overturned and unzipped, just in case.

Proverbs says the pursuit of insight should be like that; finding the knowledge of God like popping open that plastic shell for chocolate. I know that feeling. The first Bible class I took in college. The first small group I attended. The first time I read The Long Loneliness. Suddenly, life is remade; you talk to anyone who will listen; you read everything you can find; you realize you are on the trail of something sweet.

Still, most of the time I walk around as if the world weren’t full of such Easter eggs, as if I had never experienced the shock of the knowledge of God, peeking out from around the next corner. “That vase? It’s empty! Those couch cushions? Nothing to see.”

Then a friend comes to talk, and he has a look on his face like he’s just struck silver. And I remember. And it’s back to the hunt.

Prayer

Sweet One, reveal yourself to me. Give me a hint of color to put me on the trail, and I will flip over the ottoman and smash all the knick-knacks to find you. 

About the Author
Vince Amlin is Associate Minister at the United Church of Gainesville, Gainesville, Florida.