Morning musings: Easter is my favorite Christian tradition. It’s a season of hope, renewal and growth. It’s the time I hear God saying “I will always be here.” But of all the happenings in the Easter season, the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter always feels like I’m entering the void. You know the void … the place between where one thing ends and another begins, between the good-bye and the hello, between the tears and the laughter. It’s the place of despair, when youve seen the sunset and arent sure the sun will rise again. I’d like to share my Easter story with you. Many years ago, Easter happened during a time I was in the void … one way of being had ended and I wasnt sure there would ever again be another beginning. I breathed in despair with every breath. You may know that place…it’s not a good place to be. I decided to avoid the whole Easter thing by going away to a silent Buddhist retreat high in the Sierras, Thursday through Sunday. It was a good retreat, led by my favorite teacher, but it sure wasnt an Easter celebration. On the last day of the retreat, Easter Sunday, I felt like the last person alive. I was surrounded by others, even though we hadnt spoken the whole time, but I still felt very much alone. Deserted, even. I was in the mountains, miles from anything, with strangers. This Easter morning had dark clouds with a cold rain. I took my cup of tea out onto a deck that overlooked a gorgeous hillside and sat sullenly in the rain, which turned into a light snow. Even though it sounds crazy, as I sat there realizing I was miles away from home, alone, sitting in the falling snow, I remember thinking, “Easter will never find me here.” What I really meant was that hope would never find me, joy would never find me, new life would never find me. It was a very dark moment. But then, out of nowhere, a bunny hoped into view on the hillside below the deck. It stopped and looked up at me, sitting still and quiet in the snow. Then another rabbit came, and another, and another, until in the end there were 10 rabbits, all sitting quietly in the falling snow, looking up at me sitting on the deck. An Easter miracle, and I knew it was Spirit speaking to me, and Spirit’s message was clear: Easter had found me. There is always hope.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Apr 2014 13:55:35 +0000
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