More Easter Thoughts

In my Easter sermon, I put forward the thought that Easter was about change, about giving up control and about living into a new and upside-down way of thinking and being.

This is especially apt for my two congregations as we look to how we will live into the future. Will they want to keep things the way they've always been? Will they not believe the information given them about change? Or will they see what's possible with the resurrection?

I don't know what they will decide here in the next two months; that's up to them. And it's sort of an odd time for me . . . put between wanting to get on with being the church in a new and different (resurrected?) way and needing to wait to see if the people want to go there -- which then means dusting off the old resume. Either way, it's out of my hands.

So -- what brought this on? A quote from the late Bishop of Northern Michigan (who was killed in a car accident in 2007):

"This is something I have found to be true without exception: that when we, any of us, focus on things in our lives that are passing away, we get scared, we get anxious, we get depressed, we lose hope; and when we focus on things that are being birthed and are coming newly into creation, we get excited, we get imaginative, we get optimistic, we feel drawn closer to one another, we feel as if we have meaning and purpose in this life, and we have joy. . . . we are given change as an ingredient in life. We can be frightened and anxious and resistant to it or we can embrace it as a tool to transform us."

This . . . this is what's happening here.

Will my parishioners decided to focus on what is passing away, or will they focus on things that are being birthed? Stasis or resurrection . . . (Jeopardy theme song here).