Hope your Easter week was wonderful, and that Resurrection Sunday filled you with joy and gratitude. This week we might consider what to do with whatever we celebrated!
When we celebrate it’s usually about something special…a birthday, an anniversary, a new degree. Families gather, schools cheer, and couples fire up their love. Sometimes we celebrate the birth of twins, favorable changes in weather, or even the discovery of a new black hole.
There are other things to celebrate as well. Do we celebrate kindness, or charity, or gentleness? Do we celebrate fun or truth? Ralph Nader once commented: “when strangers start acting like neighbors, communities are reinvigorated.” That’s something to celebrate.
I think the message of Jesus being raised from the dead also includes a sort of celebration about the building of communities and the shaping of the hopes and dreams of human beings. Jesus, our Brother and Lord, is insistent that when we are in the will of His father, we can celebrate most anything…including difficulties, illnesses, and setbacks. Clearly, however, His own behavior and sacrifice shows us the model for our lives…how do we celebrate others? How do we help? How do we act with generosity or thoughtfulness?
William Penn penned this some time ago and though it might seem familiar I found it a good reminder of how I’d like to celebrate life:
“If there is any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do for any fellow human being, let me do it now, and not deter or neglect it, as I shall not pass by this way again.”
BLESSINGS.
