Week after week, we will cry out: Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia! We say these words when they reflect our own joy, and we also say them as a resistance to the nihilistic voice in this world trying to pull us into deathly despair.
Fifty Days of Easter
I encourage you to celebrate Easter as profoundly as you embrace Lent. It is quite common to take on a Lenten practice or two. These practices in Lent help us to fulfill the invitation at Ash Wednesday to observe Lent “by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word.” These practices are wonderful; I have been spiritually nourished by them over the years. I wonder sometimes, though, if we should consider adopting Easter practices. Not practices of fasting, but of feasting. Not practices of asceticism, but practices of flourishing. Not practices of inward self-examination, but ones that make us look outward, reaching out to one another, connecting and deepening relationships, seeking new life through Christ’s resurrection.
Read Bingham’s entire reflection by clicking “Read More.”
An Easter practice
Lent isn’t the only time we could adopt practices to deepen our faith. This month, we will also begin the 50-day season of Easter. I have been wondering lately about the idea of taking on a practice for Easter. What would an Easter practice look like? If our Lenten practices reflect time in the desert with Jesus, an Easter practice would somehow reflect the resurrection and post-resurrection life with Jesus. An Easter practice would reflect new life, helping ourselves and others flourish. An Easter practice would bring us closer together to other people, fostering friendship and reconciliation. An Easter practice would help us live into the baptismal covenant.
