Easter

So, here they are....the beautiful lamb cake...and the beautiful lamb birthday cake! Jennifer solved the whole eating issue by suggesting that we just cut off the head and cut the first slices from that part. We did, everyone ate and was happy!


The Easter Gospel yesterday was from Mark. This version of the Easter story ends abruptly after Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome go to the tomb but, instead of finding Jesus' body, they find a young man who tells them that Jesus has been raised. Rather than joyfully going to tell the disciples what they have found, "they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid."

Not surprisingly, our pastor spoke of fear and hope in his sermon---the fears of the un- or under-employed, those who have lost investments, those who face illness, and so forth. What was surprising was that the front page article in the Tribune was titled "Pastors relying on Mark's message in troubled times." Rather than headlining stories of the Pope blessing people in Vatican Square or of children rolling eggs on the White House lawn, a major newspaper actually talked about faith and what it means in our current world situation. A Lutheran pastor was quoted, "Today I think the Resurrection is a story that reminds us that no matter what we face, no matter what our fears are, we can look forward and ahead with hope."

That hope was sitting around my table yesterday afternoon. There were two brothers-in-law who are out of work, a disabled sister-in-law, an elderly mother with multiple health issues, and a son who is currently very busy but faces professional uncertainty. The others who do not have major, visible problems at this moment also have our private fears. But yesterday, we ate and talked and laughed and ended our meal with a very silly lamb cake as we sang Happy Birthday to Kevin's girlfriend Jennifer

Although we didn't talk "religion" at dinner, we were together and knew that we can be Christ for each other and be there in good and bad times. We know that "no matter what we face, no matter what our fears are, we can look forward and ahead with hope." Wow!