A Word from Russ

GONE FISHIN’

It happens every spring: after a few days of warm weather we get our hopes up that spring has finally arrived. Predictably, however, rain and cool weather return, and we have to wait a bit longer for the warmth to last.

Almost the same cycle of hope and disappointment happens in the church around Easter each year. The Easter services are typically joyful and hopeful, with uplifting hymns and special music, in a sanctuary decorated with bright flowers. We go out feeling good about ourselves and our world, maybe even about our families, as we head for a special Easter dinner with all the relatives. All too soon, however, it’s Monday, and the week after Easter brings us back to reality.

So how do we keep up that joyful, hopeful, Easter spirit in the days following our celebration of resurrection? How do we keep the mountaintop feeling when we live in the valleys? If scripture is any guide, the disciples didn’t. They went back to their fishing, which is where Jesus found them in the 21st chapter of John.

They went back to what they knew, what they were good at, what they were called to do. And Jesus found them. Rather than chide them, he made them breakfast and shared the meal with them, as if it were the most natural thing in the world to do. No big lecture, no lengthy explanation, no detailed instructions, just a visit to reassure.

How do we keep up the Easter spirit? By going back to our daily routines, doing the things we were meant to do, being the people we were created to be, with the assurance that the spirit of God that was in Jesus is not dead. And at some time, in some way, that spirit will sit down with us to reassure us that God knows us and cares for us. We may never get all the answers we want, but we have all the assurance we need. God’s spirit is alive and creating and redeeming, and our lives in the valleys are meant to reflect and share that hope.

So go ahead – go fishin’ – or working, or washing, or teaching, or playing with your kids. God is alive! The world is full of possibilities! Thank heavens it’s after Easter!

Russ