Easter Sunday, April 4, 2021
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Katie Snipes Lancaster
Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:1–8
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Spiritual Practice: Synchronized in Time
Easter transcends time. It connects you to prior Easter mornings with family and friends decades ago. It connects you to a community of saints who celebrated Easter a century ago and millennia ago. It connects you to people across the globe—today—who are simultaneously celebrating the same mystery and the same hope: that Jesus Christ is risen today. Easter opens you up to a world beyond-time. Whether you participate in worship in Kenilworth or California, in Illinois or India, today you are in sync with the body of Christ knit together by a common call to love God and neighbor. Being synchronized in time is a spiritual discipline—a wake up call—a reminder that you are not just one person, practicing faith alone, but that you are part of something that is beyond you, that is immeasurably robust, trustworthy, and fiercely full of love. In a season in which the world seems to be divided into smaller and smaller tribes with vapid and petty conflict, being synchronized in time helps us to see a common connection—a common purpose—a way forward through the struggle.
Daily Prayer
God within and beyond time,
Release us from the conflicts and barriers
that separate us from one another
And today, let the power and mystery
of the cross connect us instead of divide us.
Tune us to the good news you place before us
And synchronize us with the community of saints
Around the world and across time.
Amen.