Easter Is...

Does anyone remember the cartoon special Easter Is...? It was shown on television when I was a child. In recent years, our pastor used it as an aide to help my youngest daughter, who has Down syndrome, to understand communion.

A quick aside here about my daughter's first communion. She has a very sensitive gag reflex. When the pastor offered her the bread for the first time, she put it in her mouth, realized she wasn't going to be able to swallow it, spit it out and handed it back to the pastor. I was embarrassed but our wonderful pastor simply put the bread in her robe pocket and continued on.

Anyway, for some reason, I've been thinking about this cartoon with Easter fast approaching. For those who may not have seen or don't remember it, here's a quick summary from the DVD 3 Easter Classics at CBD.com - Easter Is — Benji must make a poster portraying the meaning of Easter. Frustrated for lack of good ideas, he pushes Waldo, his dog and pal, away. When Waldo later becomes lost, Benji's dad tells how the disciples thought they would never see Jesus again. In the end the good news of Easter is shared — that just as Waldo comes back to Benji on Easter morning, Jesus also returned!

Easter is... I've been trying to finish that sentence in my mind. There are many good endings to that from "the day I get a chocolate bunny in my Easter basket" to "the day Jesus returned, triumphant over death."

Where I live, in Wisconsin, there is generally still snow on the ground, especially when Easter is as early as it is this year. As people come into the church on Easter Sunday, they shed their heavy winter coats to reveal their colorful, new spring clothes. Easter is the time when we shed our mantle of sin and death and God reveals the new, vibrant life buried underneath.

As the weather warms, people come out of the houses where they hidden away all winter from the cold and snow. Yard work is being done. Gardens are being planted. flowers are beginning to grow and bud. Neighbors begin to talk again.

This all makes me think that Easter is...
The awakening
The renewing of relationships
The beginning...again.

Easter is...

Now it's your turn to finish the sentence.