Easter

Easter is finally upon us and I have a few thoughts racing around in my head.  Normally, I'm not very vocal about my faith.  I struggle to live day to day with the ideas set forth by Christ and I know that I haven't near perfected them yet, hence my leniency to tell others how to live.  Add to that my shyness in situations like that and I become practically mute.  In blogland though, it somehow becomes easier.

I've heard the traditional Easter story every year all my life and each year I'm in awe of it and somehow bored with it.  Not that I don't treasure God's love, but I know the "punchline" so it gets old.  This year, for the first time I started to really think about the concepts of Easter and the stories behind the main story.  Now, most of these ideas are mine, and they're not the smartest ones I've ever had, but I feel an odd need to say them.

I know the pain I feel when one of the children I watch gets hurt, I want to scoop them up and make it all go away IMMEDIATELY.  Washing their wounds or drying their tears tears me up inside and these aren't even my children.  Mary, though, had to stand there and watch for hours while her child was in pain and couldn't do a darn thing about it.  How her heart must have ached and how she must have wanted to rail at God for not stopping it.  Instead though she kept her faith and stayed by her son's side.  I think about her faith and stumble at how weak mine must seem in comparison. 

After Then, the two women who went to care for Jesus' body after he had been gone from it for 24 hours.  Now, I'm not trying to be gross or disrespectful, but think about it.  We've all seen CSI or another show featuring a body.  It's not pretty folks!  The smells, the blood, the pallor, to love someone so much as to want to go and clean their body and anoint them with oils after they've been gone from it for a day???  That is faith and love beyond my fathoming.

While standing in front of the grave, all of the sudden, a huge boulder starts moving, Hello?!?  I've been to Colorado on several vacations and once spent hours stuck on the Pikes Peak Railroad because a boulder crushed the tracks.  That was a GARGANTUAN rock and what I picture when I think of the tomb.  To see a rock that large roll away and better yet stop rolling would be a miracle in itself and that didn't even compare to what was going to happen next.  While standing there, I'm hoping in shock from a huge rock moving of its own accord, an angel appears to them.  Maybe after the rock it wasn't such a jolt to see someone appear to them, but odds are good I'd be a bit disbelieving.  (magic shows are a real drag if I'm around...)  Then again, maybe it was incredible to them,  something you've dreamed of and prayed for two days to come true actually does.  Jesus is alive and coming back to you??

I don't say these things to lighten God's sacrifice, rather to help bring it into focus.  Each and every part of the Easter story, no matter how small, was a miracle and to me that somehow makes the entire thing even more impressive and awesome in my eyes.  I promise to be back to my picture-ful posts and lighter comments, but I just wanted to get this out of me head...  Have a very blessed Easter and don't forget to look for all the little miracles all around you!