Finding God in Holy Week

The basic question(s) for all of us is (are):  "Where is God?  How can I find God?  Is there a God?"

For those of us who dare to call ourselves Christian, we find the answer in Jesus. In Jesus we find the who most clearly embodies what it means to live a holy life.   In Jesus we find one who points us to God and helps us to see God more clearly.   In Jesus we get a hint of what it might be like to be so sure that God is with us, that we would dare to live so fully in our faith that we could even move mountains.

But our glimpses of God are fleeting and we are hungry for more.  In our lives together as a little local church, we share our glimpses with each other and so we have a clearer view of God amongst us.  It is all of us, sharing our questions, our doubts, our faith, our glimpses that make us more than any one of us could be alone.  We give each other the strength and faith to work at living lives that we believe give glory to God and make both us and the world a better place.

The ultimate claim of Christianity is that we see God more clearly in Jesus because he is indeed God!  For me, the ultimate question comes down to "What does all this stuff about Easter mean to me?".   If Easter is only about chocolate and Easter bunnies and new spring clothes (or the Boston Marathon or opening day at Fenway Park) then Easter has not helped me figure out the deeper questions of meaning in my life.  But if Easter becomes a time when I can once again remember that forgiveness isn't easy and yet, still,  I have been forgiven by a God who knows my name and knows my every weakness, well, then I might once again find myself singing "Alleluia" on Easter Day to that God who knows my name!  The very idea that God might forgive me before I can figure out how to forgive myself!   The very idea that God created me to love God and to love others -- that God created all of us to learn how to love as fully and as forgivingly as God loves and forgives us  -- the very idea blows me away!  

And so, Easter becomes a touchstone for me each year.  A time to remember how hard I can be to love or to forgive and I give thanks for a God who not only loves me but expects me to learn how to love just as deeply and strongly as I am loved.