I GREW UP in a time when mothers would boil real chicken eggs on Easter weekend and gather their children around the kitchen table for artistic training to create a dozen or so of the most colorful and creatively painted (and sometimes decorated) eggs ever.
I never fully understood WHY we had to go find them in the yard on Easter Sunday. And neither did I fathom the reason for "hunting" brightly colored eggs in the first place. Nobody ever ate those eggs. They were displayed for a day, photographed, and then tossed in the trash can. I felt a little sorry for the hens who had given their best effort for naught.
But the egg hunt nowadays offers a much more capitalistic-like incentive to find them. One may discover one's favorite chocolate candy, jelly beans, or even MONEY inside the new plastic, reusable, and openable "eggs."
I'm optimistically waiting for some creative parent(s) to write sweet blessings and/or prayers on strips of paper and put them in the eggs--along with something sweet to taste--to enhance the connection between the two. That would be meaningful! Maybe I can start that tradition with my grandchildren.
This Easter, I'm painting a virtual egg for you, the reader. I hope you meditate on the intended blessing when you open it fully. May it place bold and beautiful colors (meaningful thoughts) in your mind. And may the loveliness never fade.
For most of my life, I have focused on the teachings of Jesus. I am beginning to notice more of his questions as time progresses because they are profound. There is always something new to learn, even though I may have read it a hundred times before and found nothing.
One question I find echoing so often these days contains only four words he asked Martha. I used to reason, well, the content of that conversation wasn't meant for me. He was talking to her. But, it's recorded. And all scripture is meant to instruct us all, right?
It’s an in-your-face type of question we should all keep ever before us lest we become complacent. In John 11:25-26 Jesus speaks so clearly that I suspect none of us can misunderstand. “I AM The Resurrection and The Life. The one believing in me, even if he should die, he will live. And everyone living and believing in me shall NOT die. Not ever!"
But the short, well-wrought question he asked immediately after those remarks gave me pause, particularly considering their conversation.
Careful! If you decide to read it, remember it is living and active. I say, may we often ask ourselves this question:
"Do you believe this?"
Copyright 2023, Gary Landerfelt, MyPericope.com
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