Easter Devotion

Welcome to our Easter Devotion. The author is Troy Henshaw of the Chester, VA, Congregation. Thank you, Troy, for this beautiful devotion. Easter is really more than one day - it is a season.
******
Happy Easter! The most sacred day on the Christian Calendar. The reason we celebrate Pentecost, Epiphany, and even Christmas.

But, we don’t have Easter if we don’t have Friday.

We all have Fridays in our life. Sometimes it seems like the whole world is stuck in Friday. Friday is violence and war. Friday is marginalized people. Homeless, sick, or just different. Friday is being hated for whom you love. Friday is being persecuted for wanting to make a difference. Friday is the anger and hatred that dominates our social medial. Friday is loss and grief. 2,000 years ago, Friday was betrayal, a sham trial, scourging, and an execution. And then Friday was pain, grief, shame, terror, loss, and feeling lost. Friday is the world saying “You can’t live like that. You can’t love like that.”

Sunday is hope. Sunday is healing. Sunday is faith. Sunday is forgiveness. Sunday is Christ saying “Yes, you can love like that.”
As I think about my own personal Friday, I realize that those emotions that run through Holy Week and Easter are too painful, too deep, too joyful, too sublime for words. I can’t express in words the pain I have felt. Nor can I express in words the joy and the love I feel when I think of the empty tomb. We can do nothing but fall to our knees both in anguish and in joy.
​
And, so, this morning as I cling to the hope of the empty tomb, as I cling to the love of Jesus that has saved my life this past year, the love that takes our pain and says “I understand.” “I can carry that with you.” “I can even carry you,"
​
I would love to hear about some of your own personal Fridays and the hope that Easter.