Almighty God, who through your only‑begotten Son Jesus Christ overcame death and opened to us the gate of everlasting life:
Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of the Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by your life‑giving Spirit;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one
God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Anglican Prayer for Easter Sunday
Book of Common Prayer, 1979 version,
Protestant Episcopal Church in the USA.
Dad, me (the little one), and brother Bob, Coyote Ranger Station, New Mexico, Easter late 1950’s
It is true confessions time today. Easter makes me uncomfortable. I mean really uncomfortable. What a confession for somebody who says they are a Christian isn’t it. It is not the theology that bothers me. What bothers me is my memories of Easter’s past. Some of my earliest memories of church are of a Lutheran Church in Santa Fe, New Mexico. My dad was a Forest Ranger on the Santa Fe National Forest and we lived in the little town of Coyote. Every now and then we would make the long trip to Santa Fe and go to church. In the days before there was good air conditioning it could be hot and stuffy in the church and I would pass out. Not from a state of religious exhilaration but from a lack of air. I would wake up laying down in the grass outside the church. I think it happened twice when I was a preschooler and once again when I was 16 and just visiting.
So, I just quit going to church on Easter for decades. I think that I was in my forties before I went back on Easter again. Now I go to Easter but I do have to subdue a little panic feeling because the building is generally packed and the weather is warm so if I have to get up and go to the lobby for a little cooler air and to get some space between me and others please excuse me.
So I know that Easter is the big day in Christianity, bigger than Christmas, bigger even than the Super Bowl!! But I’ve never really liked it very much personally.
But, Happy Easter to those of you who observe it, and are better Christians than I, and if you don’t observe it, have a good day anyway!
I am with you all the way, but have a lovely day and enjoy your family!
Hope you had a glorious Easter, despite the childhood memories.
Yes Driller, Easter was glorious. Things did get a little crowded and stuffy though and I did have a little of those old feelings but it subsided.
I never heard this story before. I’m also one who stays away from church on Easter. Too crowded. I choose to have personal time with God on days like today. I’m sure it’s okay with Him. Happy Easter!
That’s a great photo with the Easter baskets. My history with religion goes way back too. No fainting experiences but equally as bumpy as yours. Hey, the SUPER BOWL is big! hahahahaha
I went to (survived) Catholic grade school. I don’t remember any trauma about Easter, but I do know that we were supposed to kneel for the whole Good Friday passion reading (it is very long). I fainted two years in a row and the third year the nun told me I was excused from going! I must really have disrupted things but sadly I didn’t have the fun of seeing it!