It’s almost hard to remember now, as the boys get older, how much they really loved Easter Egg hunts when they were little. You could just see the amazement in their eyes as our backyard - which they had inhabited for countless hours - was suddenly full of these wonderful treasures! Where did they come from? But that question was mostly lost in the joy of finding more and more and more …
And then the real fun – opening the eggs up and finding all the goodies – candy, coins, toys. Each egg seems to hold something even better than the last and the eyes grow rounder as the pile grows bigger and bigger and bigger …
The women traveling to the tomb on the first Easter Sunday had a similar, if completely opposite, experience. They knew perfectly well how things should be and what they would find and how they would feel and what they would do. And then, BANG! A barrier removed, an empty tomb, an Angel’s words, confusion, fear, wonderment, tears, and a world turned upside down. They came looking for death. But it was gone.
The best surprise is the one that’s not there!
We know what to do with things as they are, as they should be. We’ve known that since we were very young. But this Easter is a new experience, this empty-tomb-faith, this confrontation that sends us out back into the world empty-handed, with prior expectations askew and all the things we knew for sure now shattered and all we have to go on, to go with, finally, is the drama and magic of faith itself.
This is not candy or money or toys. It is much better. It is life. It is nothing that was, and everything that could be. Go. The tomb is empty. Death is over. Go.
And then the real fun – opening the eggs up and finding all the goodies – candy, coins, toys. Each egg seems to hold something even better than the last and the eyes grow rounder as the pile grows bigger and bigger and bigger …
The women traveling to the tomb on the first Easter Sunday had a similar, if completely opposite, experience. They knew perfectly well how things should be and what they would find and how they would feel and what they would do. And then, BANG! A barrier removed, an empty tomb, an Angel’s words, confusion, fear, wonderment, tears, and a world turned upside down. They came looking for death. But it was gone.
The best surprise is the one that’s not there!
We know what to do with things as they are, as they should be. We’ve known that since we were very young. But this Easter is a new experience, this empty-tomb-faith, this confrontation that sends us out back into the world empty-handed, with prior expectations askew and all the things we knew for sure now shattered and all we have to go on, to go with, finally, is the drama and magic of faith itself.
This is not candy or money or toys. It is much better. It is life. It is nothing that was, and everything that could be. Go. The tomb is empty. Death is over. Go.
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