Falling Stars of Joy

All joy…emphasizes our pilgrim status; always reminds, beckons, awakens desire. Our best havings are wantings. – C.S. Lewis

Overnight Jesus turns our sorrow into joy, and like the apostles we can hardly believe it. We almost want to return to the darkness because we know it and it is comfortable.

How do we celebrate this momentous anniversary of God rising from the dead to save us from our sins?

We dress up in white, adorn the churches in lilies and eat chocolate bunnies. Somehow it does not seem to be enough. We feel a burning joy, a peaceful joy that we do not see on the faces of our brothers and sisters who do not know God. But we know even this intense feeling is still just a shadow, a faint glimmer. Our hearts know that the fullness of joy cannot be found in any celebration on Earth, even the celebration of our Savior rising from the dead.

We are a waiting people, catching falling stars of joy from God’s hands. God from God, Light from Light. At the end of our lives, through the very evil of death that Jesus has now transformed, we know and hope that we will be united to the glowing source of Light to experience eternal joy. 

We squirm in our seats at the very thought of never-ending joy – we are not even sure we want it or are really ready for it. And it is true, most of us are not ready. But this is why Jesus died, to unlock the gates and over time to make us ready.

Jesus our Savior – make us ready to fully experience your Easter joy in heaven.

Alleluia!