seasons cycle

Happy Easter!

You may think I am a day late, but I'm not.  Let me explain.

I have never been a person who takes much joy in celebrating events on set days.  Memorial Day.  Fourth of July.  Birthdays.  They are just days on the calendar.  The reason for celebration is there every day of the year. 

Are you happy that you have your independence and live in a country based on the principles of the Declaration of Independence?  Celebrate that fact each day.  Even in December if you choose.

The same goes for religious holidays.  I have never felt restricted to celebrating the incarnation and resurrection only on Easter and Christmas.  If I believe those concepts (and I do), but I do not live them each day of the year, I am living a sham.

So, I say it again -- Happy Easter!

Now, having set the tone of this essay, I need to eat a bit of crow -- feathers and all -- because this Easter Sunday -- yesterday --was a special Sunday for me.

Our church (now known as Costalegre Community Church) operates all year long.  But we only have an ordained pastor in residence for the winter tourist season. 

Because we are an English-speaking church, we draw a large group of congregants in the winter.  When Easter rolls around, our numbers have seriously diminished.  That is the point that Ron and Nancy Klein, our pastors, head back to North Dakota.

Today was that day.  After a very good sermon, the few of us who are still here, sat down to a potluck dinner and said our good-byes.  (This was also the last Sunday of the season for quite a few of the congregants, as well.)

When I left, I thought that was the last I would see of Ron and Nancy until next October.  Instead, a few of us met with them for dinner in Barra de Navidad.

There are moments that end up being stored as special nights.  This will be one.  We ate on the edge of the Barra lagoon while the remnant of the Easter crowd cavorted in or near the water.

The temperature was cooled by a constant breeze off of the ocean.  The food was good.  The company was better.  Six friends enjoying one another and another day that God has given to us.

Such days are rare.  And it would be churlish to say that I would do anything but cherish its memory.  And, better yet, know that there will be many more.

That, too, is the promise of Easter -- that we can live our lives to the fullest in the love of our God.

I hope that your Easter -- that all of your days -- will be that special.