Easter Sunday 2022
Do you remember your first Easter? Quite honestly, I do not. However, I vividly remember the first time the reality and power of Easter burst into my heart and life. Cinda and I were living in Downingtown Pennsylvania, just outside Philadelphia. We were actively involved in the church where I had experienced my call into the ministry.
After a powerful Tenebrae service of darkness and shadows where we all left in solemn silence, we went home to reflect on the crucifixion in preparation for Easter. That Saturday was cold and dreary. I found myself longing for the sunrise and the joy of Easter. And it came, bursting into my heart like never before.
I have many other wonderful Easter memories since that Easter in 1975. I will always remember sitting with Cinda on the front porch of our seminary apartment waiting for the sunrise before our boys were up and the need to get off to the church where I was serving as a seminary intern. There are many, many Easter memories I have enjoyed over years.
This year will also be a special memory. I look forward to the great Easter Hymns and music, the flowering of the Cross and more.
My friends and colleagues, Jerry Voye and Arthur Harvey would greet me every Easter Sunday with the traditional Easter greeting:
He Is Risen!
And I would respond with the traditional Easter response:
He Is Risen Indeed!
Grace and Peace, John