C-19 Reflection #16: Easter Monday - Slowing Down in Easter

C-19 Reflection – Easter Monday

 Theme:  Slowing Down in Easter 

Scripture: John 20 – 21

Reflection:

I find that the scriptures have a tendency to invite us to slow down when we would prefer to tear ahead. Sometimes this means that we miss things, slipping and sliding across the surface. That’s why there are 12 days of Christmas, 40 days of Lent and a whole week long Holy Week.

A classic concern regarding our tendencies to move quickly and stay shallow, instead of staying in the story and going a bit deeper, is that we  jump from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday without finding patience for the invitations to watch in Gethsemane, to enter the messiness of foot washing or to linger at the cross. We love our celebrations and I get that temptation, especially these days! But it’s just not how the cadence and direction of our story rolls. We don’t jump the narrative from palms to resurrection and neither do we jump from cross to ascension, unless of course we are happy to do without what the gifts that the apostle’s felt were so crucial for our formation.

The way John tells the story those early days of resurrection cannot be captured fully and accurately in a quick reading or a single service. John offers us a bit of a longer, grittier version of resurrection results and so since we have a bit more time on our hands these days, why not respond to John’s invitation to slow down in the story that Jesus died and rose again for him to tell.

To start off, take some time to simply read John’s resurrection stories (20-21). As you read, notice where your eye draws you and create space for where your heart takes you. In the following days this first week of Easter, we will spend some time reflecting on each of John’s stories of people encountering the risen Jesus, so that maybe we will encounter him too.

* I am very conscious that when I refer to us having more time during these unusual days, that some people in our community are working as hard as ever, and in unusual circumstances and under trying conditions. Let’s keep our medical friends in prayer today – Neeta, Sanober, Andrew, Winnie, Brenda, Karen and others that I may be forgetting or not know about. Let’s also remember those in our community who are challenged to reinvent their work patterns at home in order to fulfill their responsibilities.