Walking through Holy Week evokes many feelings: The thrill of the Palm Sunday parade in Jerusalem…The growing feeling of worry as ominous clouds gather as we walk further into Holy Week…The tenderness of Maundy Thursday as Jesus washes the feet of His disciples and brings new meaning to the Passover meal…The deep, profound sadness on Good Friday as we remember the death of Jesus on the Cross.
But then comes Easter morning: unbridled joy and laughter!
St. Augustine wrote, “A Christian should be an Alleluia from head to foot!” This Easter we need to laugh, not just a polite chuckle, but rounds of hearty laughter for our God has indeed made all things new!
Joseph Bayly, in Psalms of My Life, wrote this wonderful Psalm of Easter:
Let’s celebrate Easter with the rite of laughter.
Christ died and rose and lives.
Laugh like a woman who holds her first baby.
Our enemy death will soon be destroyed.
Laugh like a man who finds he doesn’t have cancer, or he does, but now there’s a cure.
Christ opened wide the door of heaven.
Laugh like children at Disneyland’s gates.
This world is owned by God, and he’ll return to rule.
Laugh like a man who walks away uninjured from a wreck in which his car was totaled.
Laugh as if all the people in the whole world were invited to a picnic and then invite them.
I look forward to connecting with you on Easter morning: online at 9:30 a.m. or in the parking lot at 11:00 a.m.
Beginning April 11, we will resume in-person worship at 9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. Masks and advance reservations are required; please see our website for details: www.hydeparkchurch.org.
Live worship is available online each Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.
May your Easter be filled with deep, abiding joy and an abundance of hearty laughter!
Christ is Risen! He is Risen, indeed! Alleluia!
Joy in our Risen Lord,
Pastor Cathy