What was on your menu yesterday? Was it a traditional Easter ham? Maybe you cooked for a family feast. Maybe you were a guest at a gathering of family and friends. Perhaps you ate out, enjoying dinner at your favorite restaurant. And maybe you observed Easter with a quiet dinner for one. Personally, I’m beginning this week with a frig full of leftovers, and I love it! 
Did you color Easter eggs? Coloring and hiding those eggs used to be a big thing in our house. We still color a few, but no more hiding. (We’d never find them!) Tradition has it that in Medieval Europe eggs were banned during Lent. Including them in the Easter Sunday feast was a real treat!

How about Easter flowers? The church was beautiful yesterday, perhaps you brought home a lovely plant. A significant theme for Easter is rebirth and spring flowers symbolize this. Lilies are believed to have grown in the Garden of Gethsemane – now they’re the most traditional of all the magnificent Easter flowers.

There’s no right or wrong about our celebration. Only one thing is needed! We began the day with a joyous worship service announcing “He is risen! He is risen indeed!” That’s the essence of Easter. The disciples had trouble believing that this could be so; but they saw Him, they heard Him, and they touched Him. His resurrection is still beyond our understanding; we can only accept it in humble gratitude.

Yes, Jesus suffered and died for you. And He is risen for you! As you approach the altar for Holy Communion, you hear the words again, “Given and shed for you.” It’s a glorious gift and it’s yours. Why? Because God loves you; God loves you unconditionally.

Judy

Today’s Reading: Matthew 28:9-10
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+28:9-10