SCRIPTURE: Mark 16:1-8 NIV 16:1 When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 16:2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 16:3 They had been…
For centuries in Eastern Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant countries, the week following Easter Sunday, culminated in “Bright Sunday” (the 2nd Sunday of the Easter season). It was observed by the faithful as “days of joy and laughter” with parties and picnics to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. The custom was rooted in the musings of early church theologians (like Augustine, Gregory of Nyssa, and John Chrysostom) that God played a practical joke on the devil by raising Jesus from the dead. Early theologians called it “Risus paschalis – the Easter laugh.” Lately we call it Holy Humor or Holy Hilarity Sunday.
Easter unplugged. Those are the words that have been running through my heart. Easter in small rooms. Easter confined. I’ve mentioned that this year Easter feels like peering inside one of those sugar eggs that contain tiny dioramas, each one a household. AND – That is exactly what we intend to do Sunday morning.
