Easter Reflection
What an incredible week it has been. A time of great reflection on what is such a significant time of the year. What does Easter mean to each of us? A time of holiday spent with family or friends? Rest and recreation or attending Easter events such as our Balloon Festival here in the Wairarapa? Hot Cross Buns and Easter Eggs? Participation, reflection and thoughtfulness in the Holy week remembrance? For me, it is all of the above.
So what is this word "Easter", where did it come from and what does it mean? The word Easter comes from Old English, meaning simply the "East." The sun which rises in the East, bringing light, warmth, and hope.(USCBC) It encompasses the telling of the story of the light of the world, Jesus’s death and resurrection.
Like so many of you, family and friends was very much a part of this Easter long weekend. Chocolate Easter eggs for the grandchildren, symbolising new life. Good Friday hot cross buns and then later, gathered at Kathy and Gary Birchill’s farm in Carterton, to walk through the stations of the cross in their beautiful garden in the woodland. A haven that Kathy has created over the years. Massive mature trees provide a canopy of beauty, with sparkling lights of sunshine twinkling through. Rhododendrons, Camelias, Hydrangeas all live in great harmony with native Kawakawa and other species beside a brook meandering through. In amongst the trees, the garden and the beauty of nature surrounding us, the atmosphere is peaceful, powerful and reflective. As we come to the last station where Jesus dies on the cross, first we see the printed station attached to the fence, but then our eyes rise to the hill behind and there is a life size cross, with Jesus on it. It feels very powerful and one cannot help but be moved.
Saturday, the stunning weather, continued - a barbecue, lighting the fire pit and enjoying the company of friends and family was a true treasure.
Sunday morning’s joy of the hot air balloons rising in the morning mist over the house. The majestic sound of flames roaring under the balloons followed by the peace as they soar above. A wonderful spectacle. Later a time of worship and prayer. In the afternoon’s Resurrection Sunday gathering we saw people healed of both inner healing of the heart and physical healing such as a painful neck which is now without pain and moving freely.
Wherever we are at, Easter has something for each of us. We can all bask in the light of hope and love coming from the East. Whether a time of rest and reflection, family and friends, or even quiet time alone, we can rest in the knowledge that we are loved. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son. John 3:16
