Easter

April 5, 2023

From Pastor Joseph Wamack

This Sunday is Easter. I hope you find meaning in a celebration of the Resurrection of our Precious Lord Jesus. The only real memories I have of Easters when I was a young lad were based around food. My Mother made a large cake in the shape of a lamb. It was white with white icing, covered in coconut with jelly bean eyes. I remember that cake vividly because there is a black and white picture of my sister standing behind the cake in a new Easter dress.

I remember when I was 6; going to church on Easter. This was unusual because we never went to church. It was also unusual because my mother was Jewish and my father wasn’t religious. I don’t remember if someone invited us or if my parents felt going to church once a year was a good thing-like a spiritual booster shot. I remember that day because we have a picture of me wearing a new suit and hat, taken before going to church.

Each year we had a large Easter basket, not individual ones, but a large family basket. In the bottom, my mom would put fake green grass and fill the basket with marshmallow bunnies, chickies, chocolate eggs, and jelly beans. It was always exciting to discover if the bunnies were solid chocolate or hollow which meant I had to bite them to find out.

Easter and Halloween were the two times of the year when it was okay to eat as much candy as I could consume. I never knew why we did any of those things we did on Easter. I never knew why an egg hunt, why the bunny, the marshmallow chickies or why I went to church that one Sunday. No one ever talked about it or told me and since they didn’t talk about it neither did I. I was afraid if I asked, they might take the candy away so it seemed safer to just stay quiet and enjoy the experience.

But Easter can be so much more than candy and eggs and bunnies! In the Christian faith, Easter is a time to remember and reflect on the resurrection of Jesus from the grave. It is a time to remember that hope can spring up and arise out of dark places. It is a time to know that Spring brings new life and as growth in the world can seemingly come from nowhere, growth for you and for me can happen, as if by God’s miracle. You can be God’s miracle. Jesus is alive! He has resurrected! May this season for you be a time of new life, optimism, hope and God’s love. Look for the deeper meaning-and don’t eat too much either!