How will we keep Easter?

Will we shake off our Lenten disciplines and return to life before?

Or will we live into the new life we will witness in less than three weeks?

We can return, or try to return. That’s a normal human response. We go through a challenging time, a difficult time, maybe even a time of traumatic upheaval, and we simply want to go back to the way things were…before.

Before seems safe. We know before. The paths in that place are familiar, well-trod. We may not have absolutely loved before, if we’re honest. Some things didn’t feel quite right, but the things were familiar. After all, it’s the place of stasis. We don’t have to change, or so we think.

Truthfully, when we are witnesses to such a significant change in the history of creation, as Easter is, when we are participants in to such an amazing, miraculous display of the power of God’s love, I’m not sure we can return to what was before.

As Bilbo Baggins, that adventurous little Hobbit reminds us: “Go back?” he thought. “No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!”

Easter asks us to go forward.

Yes, going forward is a bit scary. Just ask the disciples. We don’t know the path. The world is a different place when we see it through the lens of the Crucifixion and Resurrection.

We aren’t alone. We go together. And if you’d like to go forward into Easter together, we offer 50 Days of Fabulous from Forward Movement – daily readings, reflections, and responses for each day of Easter, written by diverse members of the Body of Christ. You can sign up on this site to receive email reflections, like our Facebook Page, follow us on Twitter, and add your comments and thoughts.

Join our community. Participate. Rejoice.

Go forward with us into Easter.

On we go!