Dear PPPC –

A few Sundays ago, I included in my weekly note to you the reminder that Easter is not just one Sunday; in the Church it’s a season that believers celebrate for 50 days. I encouraged you not to move on too quickly; that our culture knows how to anticipate an event, but not how to sustain it.

Well, as we approach the Fifth Sunday of Easter, I can’t help but reflect that shortly after an Easter morning with a full sanctuary, the most beautiful music from our choir, proclamations of Alleluia! and Christ is risen!…life quickly returned to business as usual. Back to normal life, back to the normal stressors and joys, the normal griefs and rhythms. After all, there’s still laundry to do, futures to plan, budgets to be balanced, visits to be made, and more. I will confess, not that I’ve struggled to sustain Easter, but that I’ve been wrestling with what it means to sustain it. What does it mean to sustain a celebration? As Christ-followers, what does it mean to sustain Easter?

…

My dear friend, Ellen White, has a catch-phrase she likes to use (she has several, but not all of them are theological). When Ellen witnesses something or hears a story for which it is appropriate, she simply exclaims, Practice Resurrection! When she speaks those two words, they are a reflection, they are a proclamation of her faith, and they are a reminder to all those around her…resurrection is meant to be practiced.

We’ll be out for a walk, and noticing the Spring blooms, she’ll proclaim, Practice resurrection! Something assumed dead, coming to life.

We’ll be window shopping at the boutiques in downtown PPB and see sea glass art…Practice Resurrection!…she exclaims with excitement…something used, repurposed with new life.

…or she’ll mention one of her parishioners, who made the courageous decision to move into Assisted Living and surprisingly has made new friends, one who is finding a new community…Practice Resurrection!…she whispers…someone embracing a new life.

It’s second nature for Ellen, to bear witness to resurrection all around her, all the time. I’m still surprised when she says it so casually, and yet every time she does so, I find myself a little closer to understanding what it means to sustain the celebration.

I wonder what it means for you to practice resurrection? What would it look like (or feel like) to be a witness to resurrection (to God’s raising power) in the world today? In this Eastertide?

See you in church.

Yours for the journey,
Pastor Molly

PS. We are thankful for our Presbyterian Women, who will be leading us in worship on Sunday!