Some Easter Experiences

Things and events in my life have a subtle way of coming full circle in my life. And when they do, it is always with fuller and richer meaning than the first time around.

I have always loved children and somehow they have also always shown a special closeness to me. I loved every moment of the times Anabelle and I were raising up our three sons. I have pictures and letters to prove it. Now that we are helping in taking care of Jonathan and Jane, I know I have been there before but it all feels like the first time all over again. I keep being amazed at their precociousness, their crispy laughter, how spontaneously affectionate they can be, how insatiable their hunger for fun and games is. I know I have been here before but I can never have enough of either of them.

I have always loved playing with words and writing down my thoughts and about my emotions. I kept diaries and wrote essays several times in the past. But today, i am able to write daily as I do my morning meditations. I never expect that I would be this disciplined in doing so and be able to share my writings with many others.

I feel this is what Easter is all about: life coming full circle and being made fuller and more complete. Jesus first called Peter and the other disciples as they were mending their nets. Now the Risen Christ calls out to them as they are coming in from a night of frustrated fishing. Full circle. Fuller encounter. Like deja vu, only this time it is for real.

T.S. Eliot must have had Easter in mind when he wrote these words:

The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.
~ Psalm 118

When they climbed out on shore,
they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread.
Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.”
So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore
full of one hundred fifty-three large fish.
Even though there were so many, the net was not torn.
Jesus said to them, “Come, have breakfast.”
And none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?”
because they realized it was the Lord.
Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them,
and in like manner the fish.
This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples
after being raised from the dead.
John 21:1-14