We are still deep in the 50 days of the season called Easter, and I invite you to an "Easter" practice, much as we often take on a "Lenten" practice.
If you look around or within, or both, can you sense Easter stirring? Has it rattled your cage, and you missed it? In our collective rushing around, it is easy to think of Easter as being the culmination of Holy Week and then we are on to something else.
But Easter lingers. Notice where you notice it. Here are some places I have:
A woman finds out her husband of many years loves someone else... on Easter itself, just for the record. The next few weeks and months are a potent blend of shock, grief and, unmistakably, the first glimmers of what will be a sturdy and deeply satisfying and surprising new life.
Another woman spirals down into yet another episode of addiction and job loss, but this time is willing to look at the mental health piece of the puzzle and in doing so, advocates for herself in a way she never has before.
A man turned down for many jobs, including one that looked like a sure thing, does not lose hope, but remains faithful that he will find the right work in time.
These shifts are all Easter events, whenever in the year they occurred. "Easter" as in the dawning of a new life, however sudden, unlikely or strange. Or the enduring hope for one, against the odds of experience.
As a contemplative friend writes, "A young rabbi walks into Jerusalem, and disappears forever into springtime."
Easter invites us forever into our own springtimes: Unlikely glimpses of the eternal; a touch of renewal when you think all is lost; a flat-out whack to life as you knew it that later reveals the furniture of your life rearranged in a way you would have never chosen—but have to admit is actually better, maybe even salvific.
"The Resurrection is not a single event, but a loosening of God's power and light into the earth and into history that continues to alter things, infusing them with the grace and power of God's own holiness. It is as though a door was opened, and what poured out will never be stopped, and that door cannot be closed."
- Megan McKenna, quoted in "Open the Door" by Joyce Rupp
Notice the "loosenings" and "infusions" in your life... share them in the Comments section below, if you like. Blessings on all your unfolding Easters.