I did not intend to make a long post on this topic, but I have the undeniable urge to speak on my Easter holiday experience this year...

I'm not really a "holiday" person. I'm not against them (some years I am super festive, and other years I just want to sleep and rest). I'm far beyond any "wars" about Christmas, Easter or even Halloween (argue amongst yourselves if you like). I've been through that phase in my spiritual walk, and I don't want to rehash it.

Also, I know many people do not like to use the word Easter (pagan origins and such). I agree with that and lean more toward Resurrection Sunday, but then that creates a new dilemma: are we now only celebrating Christ's resurrection on one certain day??? So I don't wanna fuss about that either. Celebrate it or don't. Call it what you want. Trust Jesus to guide you. and yet....

ALL OF THIS IS BESIDES THE POINT OF THIS POST! LOL

Truth be told- this year I enjoyed Celebrating Easter this year more than any other year before (Bar none, hands down, no exceptions). There are several reasons why, and I'll use some bullet points to explain...

1. Easter and Passover were perfectly aligned this year. This is significant, because the Passover story is about the rescue and deliverance of the Jews from Egypt and from Pharaoh; at the same time the crucifixion of Jesus is the account of how Jesus rescues humanity from the bondage of sin and death. The last supper that Jesus ate with His disciples was a passover meal. And Jesus Himself is typologically represented by the passover lamb. The blood of the passover lamb was placed on the doorposts of the Jews on their last night in Egypt, that the death angel would pass over them. The Blood of the Jesus (the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world) is placed upon the doorposts of human hearts, that we may be purified and saved from eternal death. To have these two holidays celebrated simultaneously gave christians a chance to contemplate the overwhelmingly precise wisdom of God in bringing forth both the redemption of both jews and gentiles in Christ.

2. I spent my Holy Week time with spiritual communities that were different from my own, in both traditional and non-traditional settings. Okay, but let me start off by saying, I slept and stayed in the bed for the first couple of days because ya girl was tired! Toward the end of the week, activities started to pick up, and boy, was I glad I got a chance to join in with the festivities. First, I attended and sang at a "7 Last Sayings of Christ" Good Friday church service. If you are unfamiliar with these kinds of services, they are part and parcel to the African American church experience. And even though I have exited institutional and traditional worship spaces as my primary place of practice of the christian faith, I have strong convictions about building unity and fellowship whenever and where ever possible. So, for this reason, I try not to turn down invitations to sing and worship with others, even If I no longer subscribe to their "way" of doing things. In a "7 Last Sayings" service, short sermonettes are preached by various speakers, using the texts of the 7 last sayings of Christ from the gospels as subject matters. The serviced I attended was hosted by a pastor who is temporarily holding service in her home, both in person and virtually. The Spirit of God was sweetly shared among us as each presenter gave their sermons. We took communion as well.

Next, that evening, I attended a full out Passover Seder meal across town at an Ethiopian Evangelical church. This celebration was attended by churches from across the Washington DC Metro region- it was a diverse crowd of people from a vast variety of races and ethnicities. Different worship styles, different denominations, cross- generational, and all worshipping Jesus together Now, this is what New Heaven and New Earth will look like. I did have one small issue with the tenor of American nationalism, Constitutional Fundamentalism, and zionism- these are political ideologies that have no place in God's house. But I also understand that the Body of Christ has to seek to be unified and work out these forms of "unleavened bread" together. Dividing is not a strategy for removing leaven. It takes face to face conversations, prayers, revelation of the Holy Spirit- but that's another post. The Unity in the Spirit was the overwhelming theme- it was beautifully intoxicating, and nothing was able to overshadow it that night. We also sang, danced and worshipped freely (even though it was a diverse gathering, the worship had leanings toward white evangelical stylings- but I got the black church experience earlier that day lol). The point being that it was glorious.

On Sunday, I met with my own spiritual community. We are a group of believers who meet in each other's homes under the Headship of Jesus Christ. There are no titles or hierarchical leadership roles. We just follow Jesus together.

On Sunday we celebrated the Lord's Table with a full meal, including bread and wine. Each believer shared from the Lord as they were led. We ate, we sang, we worshiped, we celebrated. Most of all we dedicated our lives to continuing to learn what it means to live out the gospel and following the Resurrected Jesus until He returns. The after affects of these events were hearts filled with joy, wonder, and a renewed hope in Christ.

3. Even though my schedule was very busy- my body and my spirit were rested, energized and full of joy! As I mentioned before, holidays can be stressful. But that's not what they are supposed to be. You are supposed to rest and enjoy your family and friends, eat good food, and play! Well, this year, I got to do all of that and then some, and I still felt completely renewed and refreshed. I know it had everything to do with getting some sleep, and then spending time with diverse expressions of Christ around town. I think maybe God had a good time with me that week as well. I sensed a strong connection, fellowship and approval of God- of my time with the church, and of my time sleeping and resting- all of it seems like a gift hand-wrapped by God, and joyfully received by me. I wish I had better words to explain what a beautiful experience it was.

Welp. That was it. My take away from Easter 2022 is that the reign of God (His Kingdom) is made evident and visible when the people of God intentionally set themselves towards practicing unity. Somehow, I feel that the pandemic and the racial unrest in our country (which have divided us even more and accentuated great injustice) have made the need for unity in the Body of Christ a more pressing mandate. My prayer is that local churches will grow toward city-wide unity (that doesn't mean conformity to any particular style or denomination) so that Christ's Kingdom will overshadow the kingdoms of this world. It is a radical hope and belief, but if Jesus Himself was raised from the dead, then this is the destiny of our world. Have faith!

How was your Easter? Let me know your thoughts in the comments....