How do we pause long enough to really ponder the true meaning of the Resurrection?
For Easter in 2020, the entire world is on a collective, forced pause whether we like it or not, a pause infused with fear, disappointment, and uncertainty.
Fear, like the fear the disciples must have felt when soldiers approached their Master in the garden of Gesthemane when He was arrested. There is fear of the unknown, fear of death, fear of loss, fear of the unruly crowd.
Disappointment, like the disappointment the followers of Jesus must have felt when they watched the gruesome treatment of the Man they thought was the promised Messiah. There is disappointment in failed medical procedures, empty store shelves, cancelled weddings, and unattended birthdays.
Uncertainty, like the disciples must have felt in overwhelming measure as they gathered together to mourn the loss of their Teacher and Friend. There is uncertainty in hospitals as lives hang in the balance, uncertainty in the marketplace as stocks plummet and rise and plummet again, uncertainty in our checkbooks as newly unemployed bread-winners pray that God will somehow keep food on the table.
In a typical Easter season as a mother, I approached the hectic day with a mixture of excitement and dread (heavy on the “dread” part). New clothes are too itchy. Shiny new shoes are too hard / too big / too small / the wrong color. There was the year child #2 found the jelly beans before church and consumed 10,000 grams of red-40 infused sugar, and then vomited a rainbow just as we were ready to leave the house. Then there was the time child #3 had yogurt on his hands and smeared it on his older sister’s new pink teddy bear, so she decked him, and now everyone is screaming as we bundled them off into the car for Sunday school and church. I scorched the bottom of the casserole I baked for the Easter potluck at Grandma’s house, so we had to run into the grocery store on the way there so we didn’t arrive empty-handed, which made us thirty minutes late. The Easter Egg hunt, which was supposed to be a light-hearted family activity, typically led to melt-downs and cousin-fights and time-outs.
Time-out.
We’re all in a time-out, and Easter is just different this year. Maybe, just maybe, that can be a good thing, allowing us the time to ponder the Resurrection.
My children are all grown now, but if I still had young children at home, I would want to linger over breakfast and talk about how their little hearts are doing in the midst of this chaos. I would read the story of the Resurrection, and then talk about their fears, their disappointments, and their uncertainties. And before we head outside for our own private Easter egg hunt, I would remind them – and myself – of the words of Jesus.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)
Allison Mackey is a kids’ book author with Lifeway/B&H Kids, and her debut novel The Edge of Everywhen comes out May 12, 2020. She lives in Alabama where she and her husband are church planters and worship leaders.
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