Chocolate Pie and a Generous Heart by Eunice Matchett

I am really off the mark with my thoughts for this month, but I had an experience Easter Sunday I just can’t keep to myself.

As most of you know, I have a son who has MS and is mostly home bound. This makes having holiday meals at my own home impossible. As I have for the last several years, I cooked Easter dinner at home, then boxed up all the food and carried it to his house. What was different this year was, when I arrived, another family, a mother and her three sons, were already there.

Food wise, we were still okay because I always make extra so my son has plenty of leftovers. If there are too many, I will freeze them into meal sized portions. But dessert created a problem. Instead of making our traditional cheesecake, I lazy-ed out and bought a chocolate cream pie at the store on my way to my son’s home.

As I set it in the fridge, I glanced around the room. Seven people. One small pie. Okay…I’m no fan of chocolate pie…that leaves six. That I can do. No one will get fat, and a tiny piece is better than no piece at all. As I proceeded to cut the pie and place the pieces on plates, someone came up behind me. I turned, and the oldest boy, a fifteen-year-old, said quietly, “I don’t want one.”

A lump grew in my throat, but I finished passing the first five pieces around and told him I didn’t like chocolate pie so there was still one left. I asked him if he wanted it. He gave me an ear to ear smile and accepted the remaining piece. The lump in my throat throbbed. This compassionate young man had turned down his share so everyone else would have. Instantly, I wanted to go back to town and buy him a whole pie just for himself.

Later that evening when I was home and snuggled on my couch, my thoughts wandered back to our Easter dinner and a precious young man. If a gesture like this moved me, a little old human grammy in all my humanism, to this extent, how much more would it move our Heavenly Father’s heart.

The more I think of this young man’s compassion, the more I am humbled. And grateful. In such an unexpected way I was given a wee peek into the immensity of Gods heart.  Little things that we do everyday, because they are the right thing to do, and we think nothing of them, perhaps they are a blessing to someone else. Perhaps they will restore someone’s faith in humanity, or perhaps they will open someone’s spiritual eyes and allow them to have a tiny peek at God’s heart the way a chocolate pie and a fifteen-year-old boy did for mine. 

The Cross - Gloria Guest

Turning the page over on the calendar to April this month I was met with a scene of The Cross painted by Thomas Kinkade. The ‘painter of light’ depicted the empty cross high atop Golgotha, a surreal glow emanating from the darkening sky. The Cross, once only seen as an instrument of torture and death has because of Jesus, come to be viewed as representing peace, grace, love, even beauty. Only God can turn something ugly and murderous into something beautiful and life giving.

I’ve never practiced Lent as a form of my faith although I can see much value in it. This past couple of weeks though I found myself in a difficult situation that did require me to sacrifice something and to release it to God.

Our son who serves in the Canadian Armed Forces was senselessly and violently attacked by a gang (not military) while on a training course. He was left with a concussion and a broken jaw that he had to have wired shut for the next six weeks. It was a traumatic experience for him and us. On top of this, his injury made him unfit to complete his course; something that he had been doing very well in. This experience left me as his mother with many emotions to process and a struggle to forgive.

However, as I did start to move through the emotional process I became more and more aware of how God had gone before me and had actually prepared me. It was like He had already turned that page on the calendar  before I even got there. He had already been to The Cross.

Throughout the days leading up to my son’s injury I had watched a number of Easter shows depicting the life of Christ; His ministry, crucifixion and resurrection. Each time I felt amazed when from that cross, Jesus spoke the words,

“Father, forgive them. For they know not what they do.”

Luke 23:34

It was those words that had already found a way into my heart that now surfaced whenever I felt anger and un-forgiveness in my heart towards the perpetrators.

“Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”

They really didn’t. Something evil within them desired to hurt my son, but they had no real understanding of their actions and the ultimate consequences for themselves. My sons wounds will heal, but these people have a deep scar in their hearts that without coming to the cross of Christ, will never heal.

“Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Those are not easy words to say. They are only made possible for us by the fact that Jesus said them first; to a world scarred by sin; a world with no hope of healing without the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and His life giving resurrection. He said them first to me.

God moves ahead of us. He turns the page before we do. Only God could turn the Cross, something so ugly, into an instrument of peace and love. Only God can take my pain and through the finished work of The Cross, birth grace and healing into my life.

“Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

The Cross For All - by Rohadi

This Lenten season I’ve made my way through a formidable book called, “The Day the Revolution Began,” by N.T. Wright. Everyone has the handful of books that have been formative, those watershed moments, for either skill or faith. This one fits the bill for me. Surprised by Hope, another title by Wright, would be another, but the former book has redefined my approach to critical questions of our faith—why the cross, and how does it solve anything?

The typical reformed answer would be, to deliver us from our sins by taking the penalty of death on the cross. The Sunday school answer, however, only works within a context of an already churched person, someone who knows the church language and stories. I am curious to know how someone would explain the why and how of the cross without using church language. 

Could you do it? Explain the value of the cross without using words like ‘sin’, ‘wrath’, ‘fallen’, ‘blood sacrifice’. It was a challenge for me, questions I was asking because my ministry tends to operate outside of the confines communities full of career Christians, and towards those who’ve never heard the stories. These people hear, ‘Easter’ and think bunnies, chocolate, and a stat holiday. 

Isn’t there something more? And can I even make sense of it?

Of course, there’s an answer. Actually, let me rephrase. An ‘answer’ to the cross implies a level of formula that we try to impose to make sense of something that cannot be placed into a formula. The cross cannot be fully explained, which is part of the point, there is a mystery that one must discover on their own accord. It would be better to say, of course there’s a story, and the cross sits as the fundamental climax of that story, one where the church picks up the unfolding pieces. 

The cross makes no sense if it’s taken out of God’s story for creation and shoehorned into theological preferences. 

Writers are acutely aware of the formation and power of story, and the scriptures point to a grand unfolding narrative. God begins with a purpose for creation—to bear the image of the creator—and it is our return to this purpose (or ‘vocation’ as Wright uses) that God is fundamentally trying to restore. This story has remained unchanged since creation, unfolded with the nation of Israel throughout history, yet was never fully realized in their care. Jesus becomes the fulfillment of God’s promise to reconcile humanity back to the covenant made with Abraham—a blessing for a multitude—an uncountable sin-forgiven family. Jesus does this through the work on the cross, choosing to take the powers of evil, both seen and unseen, to prove they could be beaten, at the cross and at the empty tomb. 

There were so many moments of, ‘oh wow’, in this year’s Lenten journey, connected with the devotions through Wright’s writing. I’ll trail off with a mere, Happy Easter to all, and a hearty encouragement to read the book! It will challenge you in the least, and change you for the best.

_____________

Catch Rohadi as his blog, and check out his adult coloring book with Biblical themes. 

Symbols of the Sacred by Nina Faye Morey

What does the Easter miracle of the death and resurrection of Christ mean to me? Several symbols are commonly used to represent such Christian concepts. As a Christian writer, I regularly employ these symbols or “mental pictures.” Like Jesus’ parables, they help make religious messages and teachings easily understood and remembered by young and old alike.

As Easter approaches, I search the store shelves overflowing with candy Easter eggs, stuffed Easter bunnies, and Easter baskets for gifts for my grandchildren. Their greeting cards also depict these and other symbols commonly associated with the holiday. The verses celebrate the coming of spring and new life and wish them “Happy Easter.” I might find “religious” Easter cards for my significant adults, but it’s clear the Cross of Calvary faces stiff competition.

Easter Egg Basket & Lily

So what, if anything, do these curious Easter customs and symbols have to do with the death and resurrection of Christ? The truth is Easter didn’t originate with Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross. Its only Biblical reference is a mistranslation of the word “Pascha,” which refers to the “Passover” (Acts 12:4 KJV). Our Easter observances are an eclectic mixture of ancient mythology and pagan practices that pre-date Christianity. The early Christian Church adapted many pagan symbols for rebirth, renewal, resurrection, and transformation, such as eggs and rabbits, from spring fertility festivals to explain Christ’s death and resurrection to new converts. Because of their pagan roots, some Christians reject these symbols and judge those who embrace them. However, the Christian church has long incorporated them to both conceal and reveal sacred truths.

This Easter I’m looking forward to painting some Easter eggs with my grandchildren. It’s a folk art that combines the pagan symbolism of the new life created in the egg with the Christian symbolism of the new life found in Christ. Since the egg holds the miraculous power of giving birth to new life, I’ll point out how this makes them an especially appropriate symbol of our Lord’s resurrection. I’ll reveal the special meaning of each colour; and how it’s believed that the more colours your Easter egg has, the greater its magical power. Red represents the life-giving blood Jesus shed on the cross so those who believe in Him could have eternal life. White stands for innocence and purity and symbolizes God’s forgiveness of our sins through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Green expresses our hope of life after death. Yellow depicts light, God, and love.

Egg-laying Easter Bunny

I’ll also describe the meaning of each pattern as we draw them on our eggs. My grandkids are already familiar with many Christian symbols, like crosses, doves, and suns. Fish symbols were secret signs used by early Christians because Jesus was the “fisher of men.” Triangles represent the Trinity. Dots depict the tears the Virgin Mary shed at the foot of the cross. Spirals symbolize the mysteries of life, death, and everlasting life. Borders, ribbons, and curls with no beginning or end are called eternity bands and illustrate infinity and immortality. According to legend, their coils draw in and trap evil spirits, so they offer protection from sin.

For Christians, Good Friday commemorates Christ’s death on the cross and burial in the tomb. Easter Sunday celebrates His miraculous resurrection and triumph over death that gives hope to His faithful followers. I’ll explain to my grandchildren how Easter eggs are powerful symbols of this Easter miracle. Their hard shells represent Christ’s sealed tomb. Cracking them open Easter morning portrays the divine mystery of Christ’s gift of new life to believers through His death and resurrection.

Illustration Credits:

Easter Basket & Lily © 2008 Nina Faye Morey

(Previously Published in Grainews, March 10, 2008)

Egg-Laying Easter Bunny © 2007 Nina Faye Morey

(Previously Published in Grainews, March 26, 2007)