Today marks the second week of Eastertide, the season of which we celebrate the risen Christ. For fifty days we get to celebrate and feast, remembering Him who annihilated sin and death once and for all. For fifty days we have the chance to lean into the power of resurrection and worship with joy knowing that it is finished! Christ has risen and our souls, once darkened by sin, now rise with Him in victory. This time is set aside specifically for the people of God to remember, celebrate and become more deeply acquainted with our redeemed ourselves. We have left the somberness of Lent and have sprinted, like Peter did, to the empty tomb with excitement, perhaps some disbelief but certainly with joy. He has risen, just as he said!
Over the remaining six weeks of Eastertide, we get to practice running to the empty tomb and find him standing there waiting for us. These practices of resurrection are simple reminders of his mighty resurrection power at work in our lives and in the world. Use the printable below and the corresponding blogs published each Sunday to aid you in these practices. May our joy flourish this season and spread like wildfire through our homes, our neighborhoods and our cities that Hope has risen!
Look For The Living
Read Daily Luke 24:1-12
I love the picture of these women in the early morning walking to Jesus’ tomb with spices they had prepared. I picture them the evening before gathered in their home blending and grinding the best spice mixture they could afford. The candles burned brightly as they worked over a table scattered with bowls and tools as they prepared their blend. I wonder what the conversation was like as they did their work that evening. Would they have been quiet, still processing all that happened or would they be telling stories of the last few years? I’m sure tears were shed and comfort was offered, as the aroma of their preparation filled the air. Then they would carefully pack the spices for the morning’s journey and called it a night.
The sun hadn’t even graced the morning sky before they were up and walking, spices in hand, they journeyed to the expected gravesite. But this journey they prepared for, to refresh the broken body of Jesus, led them to a very different place, any empty tomb! Frantic they search and wonder what had happened,
“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, he has risen!” the angels said.
He has risen!
They ran back to tell the apostles who did not believe them except for Peter who sprinted to the tomb to find it just as the women had said, empty yet he was still puzzled by what could have happened.
This trip to the tomb, this prepared walk, this unexpected sprint had some believing and others assuming nonsense. I can relate. It’s hard to believe in life when you have experienced death. Death of a loved one, a dream and even in our current state with COVID-19 death of autonomy and control. Life can feel unpredictable and scary as we watch the curve form on the TV screen each morning. It’s all too easy to focus on death when we are trapped in our homes, unable to hug our friends or waiting in a “six-feet-apart” line just to get a gallon of milk. Believing this resurrection power is nonsense isn’t too far off when we find ourselves surrounded by death. So I feel for the apostles, my faith has had its moments of disbelief when what I know about Jesus, and what I am experiencing in my life feels incongruent. I have felt that sharp pain of hope dying and anytime someone would try to encourage me in my faith, it felt irrelevant. Yet even in those moments when we feel death is winning, Jesus is still alive. I love the question the angels asked “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, he has risen!” We might feel like we are standing in the cemeteries of our life but this doesn’t negate that Jesus is still alive and offering new life to us. Our hope is alive and there is life to be noticed, to be celebrated and to be shared. Resurrection has happened and is happening all around us, let us have eyes to see it and sprint with boundless excitement to share the news. He has risen!
Resurrection Practice
Resurrection Walks
Prepare to take a mindful walk each day this week. Give yourself 10 to 20 minutes to walk at a slow pace. Use your senses while you walk. What are you smelling, seeing, hearing? Can you see signs of life? Offer praise and thanksgiving when you do. Turn off your phone to aid you in this practice of silence and solitude. Start each walk with three deep breaths, breathing in life and exhaling any stress or darkness you may be feeling and a simple prayer, “Lord, give me the eyes to see resurrection life in me and in the world.” End your walk with thanksgiving.
If you are bound to your house or are in quarantine, I encourage you to do this practice sitting quietly in front of a window.
Download the Printable
Know the Word by heart this Eastertide season. Head to the shop to download the Eastertide Memory Plan.
Photo by Sam Headland on Unsplash
Colette Eaton 
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