April 18, 2020

Today’s reflection is taken from Fresh Bread by Joyce Rupp.

“I have discovered yet another way of rejoicing with my feelings do not match Easter’s message.

It is the gift of recognizing and remembering all the “little Easters” of my life throughout the year.

This discovery of the little Easters came upon me one day in April as a woman told me how extremely discouraged she was because her days were just made up of “little things “ that seemed so terribly insignificant and unimportant. During the next several weeks I begin to notice all the “insignificant or little things” in my days. As I did so, a quiet surprise happened inside of me. I was amazed by all the little moments or little Easters, those feelings of joy, surprise, amazement, hope, newness, they get clouded by the tough stuff and the daily dyings. (Why is it that it seems to be so much easier to get caught up in the hard things and the struggles than it is to remember the happy moments?) I began to see how I allowed my spirit to get bogged down in anxieties and problems because I did not notice and celebrate the simple, little surprises. I can know little Easters all year long and, if I develop a recognition of an a taste for them, they will deepen my faith in the resurrection even when I do not feel the joy at the time of its celebration.”