There are at least two Connection insights that Easter gives me today:
- I believe that Jesus Christ, through his life and teaching, his death and resurrection, bridged the chasm between man and God and created forevermore a way to strengthen our connection with God.
- I believe that unless we take those lessons and become conduits of love to others in our life, including the unlovable and disenfranchised, we risk weakening or breaking our own connection with God and we risk depriving others of that connection in their lives too. We ARE the hands and feet of the Body of Christ, and it is through us that his love, comfort, and healing comes to others.
By tradition, at our church’s Great Vigil of Easter service on Easter Eve, the Rector reads the Easter Sermon of St. John Chrysostom (AD 400). It is filled with imagery of celebration, hope, and empowerment, and reflects the joy that we Christians are meant to experience after the penitential season of Lent. I’ve included an excerpt with a link to the short sermon in its entirety.
If any man be devout and love God, let him enjoy this fair and radiant triumphal feast. […]
Wherefore, enter ye all into the joy of your Lord, and receive your reward, both the first and likewise the second.
You rich and poor together, hold high festival.
You sober and you heedless, honor the day.
Rejoice today, both you who have fasted and you who have disregarded the fast.
The table is fully laden; feast sumptuously.
The calf is fatted; let no one go hungry away.
Enjoy the feast of faith; receive all the riches of loving-kindness.
Excerpts from The Easter Sermon of St. John Chrysostom (AD 400)
Moving from medieval text to modern expressions of Easter joy through music and dance, I share the 5-minute video below “Dance Your Shoes Off.” Be sure to get past the first 45 seconds to get your inner dancer moving! Click on the You Tube link to learn about the video and credits to the songwriter and producer. Many thanks to my late friend and Heartspoken Connection Messenger Jackie Catterton, for sending me the link to this video:
Alleluia! What was dead shall live; what was dark shall shine; what was forgotten shall be remembered, for the Lord is risen and walks among us. Let us confidently bring before God the needs of all our world, asking God for renewal, saying: Christ is risen; Christ is risen indeed!
Prayers of the People, Easter Day, “Intercessions for the Christian People.” (An ecumenical resource from Roman, Episcopal, and Lutheran clergy)
Photo Credit: Shirley Booth, Waitakere, Auckland, New Zealand
Book Review: Grace Notes, by Philip Yancey
The world seems crazy sometimes [when religion separates us instead of joins us]. I do understand that people with certain beliefs would like to share and commune with those who feel in a similar way. But people of all faiths are so interesting and their beliefs enrich us if we let them, I believe. I chant “om” with my yoga teacher and at the end of my session when I put my hands in prayer and say “namaste.” that is indeed prayer and I feel it and believe it. When I go to Grace Church in The Plains and I have communion, I settle into the liturgy like a comforting bed and it calms me; that is prayer and I feel it and believe it. At other times: sunrise (rarely, I admit), or sunset, I can take a moment and it is religious. Seeing my grandchildren, being with my animals, all is prayer. Missing my grandmother everyday is prayer. So then I am asked from time to time, “Are you a Christian?”. How can I answer? I know what they mean….am I “born again,” do I consider Jesus Christ my personal savior , etc. Well, I was born almost 62 years ago and God helped me to live (26 weeks gestation in 1949), I was baptized and confirmed in the Episcopal Church and have attended off and on my whole life. I hope I live in a kind and thoughtful manner. But why must those lines be drawn? Sometimes I feel it is worse than choosing sides in sports or games….an us against them mentality that sends me running away. I think all faiths are good and extremists in any faith can be bad. Anything that pits us against one another has to be an offense against God. And some extremists in Christianity are just as scary to me as Islamic extremists. I just don’t understand! So now I am going to have more coffee and stop my rant. But we don’t discuss these things with one another because we are afraid to do so.
Elizabeth,
Thank you for inviting me to post this comment on your blog site. I appreciate being able to be part of important discussions that will move us in the direction of living by the heart and mind combined in blessed union. Here then is my comment from Facebook:
While I do honor all that language of the church, I worship in a different way. It has lost me friends because I would not say the Nicene Creed in church with them. I cannot believe in the words that diminish us as fragile as we are, but celebrate God in others and worship in the Church of Trees, believe in hope and goodness, and marvel at the connections and serendipity in life when the universe opens a window to us. I do believe that, in spirit, together we are the second coming as we reach out to each other in the ways that Jesus did when he attained Christhood and that equates with Enlightenment for me. This we are – enlightened with the possibility of living in our Christ consciousness and we are that – we just have to accept it and acknowledge and live in that knowledge that we can merge with the divine mind of God, the heart of Christ and embody that in our lives. We just need to recognize each other and accept all of it.
Hello and thanks for all the goodies! Am telling so many people about Heartspoken .com. Neat articles, products and great investment of time, thought and alot of truths.
Thank you Elizabeth for giving us your best always.!!!
Jackie
Elizabeth,
Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank YOU for this e-hug, Doris. I loved sharing the Holy Week services with you and Jeff.
Thank you, Jackie! I thought of you on Easter and knew you were dancing in your heart.