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During my years as a religious education teacher, one of my favorite aspects of teaching was helping children discover the deeper, more substantial, meanings of holidays that are celebrated with cartoony characters, brightly colored decorations and materialistic presents that have nothing to do with the real gift of each particular holiday.
Those years, when I was young and not nearly as weathered as I am now, I don’t know if I truly understood the full breadth of the Easter season. I taught about sacrifice, about pain and suffering, about having faith and trusting God; I taught about forgiveness.
Now, as a more mature adult, this Holy Week kept tugging at me in a different way. Holy Week itself can serve as a beautiful and symbolic reminder of all that we will face in this life.
We will build relationships with friends, some of whom will not be strong enough to stand with us when we need it most. We will face time alone, looking temptation in the eye and having to make the decision of whether to accept them, and their cost, or to walk away with strength. We will be asked who we are in this world, and given a choice to declare it with pride, or live a lie. We will be given the opportunity to judge our peers, or look at them with understanding. We will hold either forgiveness in our hearts or hatred. We will suffer, and we pushed to moments where we will cry out to God wondering why he has forsaken us. We won’t understand the course of our life sometimes, but we will have faith and hope for the future. We will face darkness, but we will feel the sun’s warmth upon our face when it the dawn arrives.
I taught those moments, in small morsels, to those young impressionable faces- but in doing so, those lessons taught time and time again became etched deep into my heart and it is what I have fallen back upon when my own understanding falls short. When all else fails, when doctrine and law do not seem to align with the love and compassion, forgiveness and inclusion that Jesus himself lived with, I look back to my own life, for it is the only one that I have control over.
I choose to live with loyalty, regardless of the potential for betrayal; I choose to live with strength, and not temptation; with purpose and not seeking approval. I choose to live with understanding, with forgiveness and with faith and hope.
On this Easter Sunday, I wish you all encounter a little renewal and light in your lives. Let us live our lives with our faces turned to the warmth of the sun- and towards the warmth of the Son; let our growth be directed towards the light.
Beautifully written, Kelly! Happy Easter!
Thanks! Speaking of beauty- you looked gorgeous in the photos from Brunch yesterday!
Also, I’m so sorry to hear of your loss this week. Thinking of you both, and sending prayers of comfort your way.
Thanks so much. Life throws us some rain every once in a while, but without it, we wouldn’t appreciate the sunshine so much 🙂 Hopefully you guys are getting some sun and the winter weather is behind you!
[…] I always know that if I look to Kelly’s wonderful writing and photographs, I’ll find inspiration and a little spiritual clarity – right now, I especially love this post on deep lessons from little moments. […]