Aunt Jessica was in town for the weekend, so Reagan & I joined her & my mom for lunch at The Olive Garden Friday for some pre-Easter mac & cheese:
Easter Sunday was a long day for Reagan. She almost made it through the entire church service in the auditorium, but I had to take her out with about ten minutes to go.
Some frolicking on the church grounds:
With Roy Orbison her Papa:
Stopover at her Grandmama & Grandaddy's house to show off her Easter dress:
Below, Reagan with Trey & I & her great grandfather. Half the people in this pic are named Donald Henry Zeigler.
With her grandparents & great grandfather (the DHZ ratio remains the same):
Pre-lunch sprawl on the porch at Squire Creek:
Tulip centerpiece:
Wondering why her Sunday afternoon nap has been delayed:
For comparison, Easter lunch, 2011:
With Daddy:
Easter Family Photo, 2012:
Easter Family Photo, 2011:
Growing weary of the post-lunch photo shoot:
Refusing to pose, insisting on frolicking:
Obligatory prancing in the yard photos once we returned home from lunch:
Like Christmas, when the world celebrates Jesus' birth, Easter has become commercialized, which is seemingly the fate of everything in our consumer driven society. Regardless of the plastic eggs, the candy, the frilly dresses, & the visits from the Easter Bunny, it's still a day when many contemplate Jesus' resurrection, & that's certainly something in a nation that has driven God from the public arena at every turn. I am always a little perplexed by the hoopla over Easter, though. Every Sunday is the Lord's Day. Every Sunday, Christians around the world gather & remember Jesus' death, but most importantly, His resurrection, which took place on the first day of the week - that's why we meet on the first day of the week, that's why Chick-fil-A closes every Sunday - none of this is arbitrary.
His death was physically brutal for Him, & perhaps the darkest hour the Earth has known as men put to death the sinless Son of God. However, many men had died before Jesus, & many have died since (though, all men earn death via their sin, with the noted exception of Jesus). Many men have been subjected to the cruelty of death on a cross, & over 2000 years after Jesus' death, men, in their depravity, continue to find ways to torture their fellow man. What is of the utmost importance is that He rose; this is the point at which Christ's story takes a markedly different turn from the stories of all the men who have claimed to be a messiah, but who have returned to dust. Death could not hold Jesus because though a man, He was sinless. He rose on the first day of the week, & this is worth remembering & honoring every first day of the week.
Perhaps most mind boggling is that this was the plan all along. The Creator always intended to die for His creation, knowing it was the only hope for reconciliation, a reconciliation He yearns for despite our wretched, sinful condition. It wasn't something thrown together at the last minute, an audible called when it appeared Satan was gaining a foothold as Jesus was beaten, breathed His last, & was sealed in His tomb. As C.S. Lewis states in Miracles,
Some people probably think of the resurrection as a desperate last moment expedient to save the Hero from a situation which had got out of the Author's control.
Every Sunday that we're physically able, we have an opportunity to gather with like-minded individuals & reflect on & give thanks for the intricate, loving details of the plan that was set in motion to offer us a way out of the grave, & out of hell, a plan that culminated with Jesus' resurrection on the first day of the week. Without the resurrection, the whole plan is of no consequence. I don't presume to know what Jesus thinks about Easter, but I do know He didn't conquer death once for all mankind so that mankind could reflect on His sacrifice once a year.
The author and perfecter of our faith wrote the script long before the players took the stage, and there is no doubt how the show will end. If, as Shakespeare contended, "all the world's a stage," the only remaining question is where we will all take our final bow.
AZ
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