Dancing Through Easter

Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. (Matthew 9:14, 15 NIV)

Did you ever wonder why Lent is said to be 40 days, when actually, if you count the days from Ash Wednesday until the day before Easter there are 46 days?  It is because Sundays are not counted.  And Sundays are not counted because every Sunday is a celebration of the Ressurection... a "mini-Easter."    That's right, folks!  If you wanted to be technical about it, you could have broken your Lenten fast each and every Sunday throughout Lent!

And remember, Easter Sunday may be over, but for the next 50 days we will be celebrating the Easter season of the church year.  (Can we have a chocolate bunny for each day of Easter?)  St. Augustine said Christians are an "Easter people" and the church calendar is set up to reflect that.  50 days of Easter and Easter every Sunday!  Wouldn't it be great if we celebrated each of those days as we do the one special Easter Sunday?  I don't especially mean all the pomp and circumstance and work that goes into it... but the excitement.  Shouldn't we be just as excited about the empty tomb this coming Sunday as we were last Sunday?  Shouldn't we be that excited about the empty tomb every Sunday?... and every day?

I would like to challenge you to commit to this Easter season as fully as you did to Lent.  But instead of fasting, celebrate!  Was it a challenge to study more, pray more and give more during Lent?  If you stuck to it, it probably got easier by Easter and now you can study more, pray more and give more, not as a fast, but as a celebration!  And that was what Lent was all about... turning our fasting into celebration... our mourning into dancing.

We've got 46 more days of the Easter season... let's continue to celebrate and dance through them!

Lord Jesus,
Help us to keep Easter joy in our hearts.  Amen.

Joys:  A relaxing few days off of work; Spring, sunshine and warm weather each of my days off; Easter season