The 27th Day of Easter
I believe. Help my unbelief. ~Luke 9:24
Today is the 27th Day of Easter. Yes, it’s true. Did you know there are 50 days of Easter? How cool is that?! In the Church calendar, Christmas only gets 12 days but Easter gets 50 days! I do think it’s appropriate that the most disruptive event of humankind, the Resurrection, should get 50 days of celebration every year. But, what does that celebration look like? I suppose if we’re honest (and we are), it looks exactly like…nothing.If we celebrate Easter at all, it’s usually a one-day event. Some people get up early for a chilly sunrise service. Others dress up and go to a beautiful church filled with the sweet scent of Easter lilies, sing familiar and victorious hymns and then have lunch with family and friends. Still others may spend the day serving food to those who might not otherwise get a meal on that day. If it’s a nice day, many people will simply spend the day relaxing at a park or at home with a vague sense that it’s some kind of a feast day. I've always been a one-day celebration kind of person. This year we shared the day with our family and friends with a service, a potluck and an egg hunt at the beautiful Arista winery. Despite the early rain showers, it was lovely! But this year I sense there must be more.For 40 days after the resurrection Jesus was physically present to those that believed and to those that doubted. He ate with them and hung out with them to make sure they knew he was alive and real. He was the same, but different. He could eat and laugh, walk and talk, but he could also just appear in a room when the door was locked. I imagine his friends were kind of freaked out by this. I certainly would be! I might be a little jumpy if he wasn’t around, wondering if he was going to, randomly, show up. Every sound would startle me and every movement out of the corner of my eye would make me turn my head and look. I think I would just stare at him the whole time if he did show up, wondering if he was real. I would constantly want to touch his hands. Would touching Jesus increase my faith? Would my doubts fade if we ate together? All my senses would be on high alert.Perhaps this is a clue as to how we should spend the days of Easter. Maybe our senses should be acutely tuned to the miracle of new life…of resurrection. Every scent a whiff of resurrection. Every song, every laugh, a stairway to faith. Every touch a gentle drawing towards eternity. Every taste an explosion of gratitude. Every tiny piece of beauty a piercing of the soul. Every movement a step towards grace. Every doubt diminished.What would it be like to spend 50 days engaging all our senses as we strain to understand the amazing reality of Resurrection? Just like touching the resurrected Jesus, what if our senses open a door for our faith to grow? Fortunately, the beauty of spring during the Easter season lays out a sumptuous feast for the senses. Enjoy a short photo journal that (barely) describes some of my own heightened enjoyment of the senses.In what ways have your senses increased your faith during this spring season of Easter?
