 St Alban’s Episcopal Church Bolivar, Missouri Monday, May 9, 2022 It’s still Easter…for a reason   Why does Easter last so long? Well, for a lot of Christians, it doesn’t. But for us, we celebrate, as Christians traditionally have done, the whole 50 days between Easter day and Pentecost. We tell the stories of Jesus’ Resurrection appearances in the different gospels, read all of the post-Easter accounts, go back and remember what he told his disciples before he died – read stories about the early disciples, what they did and understood. We read Revelation because that author also reflected on the power of the resurrection of the Lamb, and what it means. We do that so that we can look more deeply at what those events all mean for us – and in us – and for the whole world. So we keep on singing Easter hymns and ringing bells, seeing the little ones carrying the decorated crosses, and if we ever get a dry Sunday, we’ll be enjoying watching the children hunt Easter eggs!Easter is rich.Multi-layered.Unending.It represents the 8th day of creation that will never end – and it is good to celebrate it well and deeply.  That quote from Thomas Merton fits the way we celebrate Easter – but also the way we live our lives as Episcopal Christians. It doesn’t mean making up something new and cool and different. It means entering so deeply into the patterns and practices of liturgy that each generation can find them fresh and newly relevant and contemporaneous. Sunday morning adult class (to which teens are also welcome,) led by Ryan Williams will continue on Sunday at 9:30 with a discussion of chapter 4. Please do read it before commenting. Last week’s conversation was so very good! After this book is completed, we will have a week or two of discussion with Lexi Walker about what she is learning about toxic Christianity, especially the spiritual abuse of adolescents. That might resonate with some adults who experienced it but weren’t sure how to name it or talk about it. And then later in summer we will do another book study of Rachel Held Evans’ book, Searching for Sunday. You might want to try to get a copy now. I will also order some. Anna Williams will lead that discussion on alternate Sundays, but it would be good to have someone else who knows and loves the book to lead it on the weeks she has to work. And it would be good to give Ryan a break! So if that’s you, and you’d enjoy just facilitating a conversation with about 18 of your friends on Sunday morning – let Anna or Mother Cathy know. When children want to engage, let them.They are not the future of the church. They belong right now.   Practicing the liturgy Sometimes churches separate the kids during worship and let them “play” liturgy. I’d rather they stay with us, watch, listen, learn the patterns, and practice it with us. This little one is totally in to the things we do. He takes up the offering with the big boys, and he know when, too. And then he brings it to me. RB has come up to wash his hands when I do for weeks now. Last Sunday Lindsey joined him. Do they understand why I do it? No. I don’t explain it. But do they know when it will happen? Yes. And they know it comes before the Bread they love. It makes sense to them. And if he can’t quite handle the cross perfectly, it doesn’t matter. He will. They don’t stay this age, and they will find other ways to engage the Story as they grow, but right now they are dancing with God – sometimes literally – around the altar. And for the second week in a row, a different adult new to our congregation spoke about how “right” this seemed to him.  Thanks to Ruth Lewis for preaching last Sunday. We have many in our congregation who know and love the study of scripture, and are gifted at communicating it. s always the text of her homily will be posted on the website and on our facebook page.  |
Categories:
Tags:
No responses yet