Easter Part 1: Chocolate bunnies, crosses, and ham, oh my...

Easter

So many emotions in one word. Chocolate bunnies, dyeing eggs, hiding them and watching with more joy than the kids when they find them.  Church, faith, religion...these things are secondary to us today...but why?  Why is it so accepted that we gorge on chocolate, green bean casserole, and ham ~ but people get a little uncomfortable when you talk about Christ, about His sacrifice...?  I submit that it is more an uncomfortableness with the uncertainty of death rather than a failure of faith.  Most Americans believe there is a "Supreme Being" somewhere in the Universe...it seems to be the address that is more the question.  Does he live within us, does he live on a planet like ours, in a spaceship, does he have a body or is he a ghost?  Are these stories allegories ~ or can he really see everything?  Our finite minds simply cannot comprehend this.  I could go on and on...but we are all familiar with the theories and arguments.  There are as many belief systems as there are stars because truly we each put our own spin on what is taught in Church every week or month or year.  We also don't like to be told how to live and what to do...so, with our proudness and our stubbornness, we march through our lives, allowed to revel in the it-can't-happen-to me-naivete until BOOM...One day, it does.  The horse-blinders come off and Death knocks on the door.  It may be a parent, a beloved pet, a neighbor's spouse thank God it wasn't mine or a child.  Death is never easy.  It is particularly difficult when it is someone so young, so vital.  The amazing part is, God is right there, we don't have to go far, but we sometimes don't allow him to be there because we feel guilty that we haven't spoken - not unlike the scolding we get from Mom when we failed to call remembering her birthday or Mother's Day.  We want to, but feel somehow like we can't or don't have the right.  He is there every minute of every day.  We pretend in our daily lives that He can't see us because we can't see Him - not unlike a child playing peek-a-boo.  Just as any kind parent does, He plays along, not wanting to burst our bubble.  And, like any good parent, He knows when to intervene.  The simplest things we take for granted are really miracles, just on a smaller level.  The girl on the way home, pauses to turn at a familiar spot...she used to go there with her father, who died 3 years earlier...but then the car would be going the wrong way in front of the house, so she continues on...right in front of here BOOM...a huge old tank of a car hits the back of a Jeep waiting to turn...had the girl not paused, the tank would have pushed the Jeep right on top of the car the girl was in. Coincidence?  Not a chance.  Miracle.  Plain and simple.  Want to know HOW I KNOW?  Read Easter Part 2 later today, and  Easter Part 3 tonight.  All His best blessings to you and yours this day:  FIND JOY.