believe

I set out on this journey to write a tale of Easter from the unique perspective of the Easter Bunny. It was fun, hard, touching, and deeply moving. There were things lost and much gained. It was an odd Lenten journey, but it was the one I was called to travel.

We left bunny world in boxes yesterday, leaving behind an empty bunny patch and wondering if we should say a few words. The bunny won't be returning...at least not until next year. There will be no angels sitting on the green picket fence letting kids know that the Bunny is alive and will meet them at home, the story is now in the hands of parents. The faith is in the hearts of kids.

Our Bunny is in boxes, I know. Some have even questioned the intersection of pastoral ministry and the peddling of the Easter Bunny myth, but I have emerged believing. As I sat there in the bunny suit holding kids and hearing about what they wanted in their basket or taking the pictures they drew for me, I represented an ancient story. As parents stayed up late last night fixing baskets and hiding eggs, they held the tender hands of their children and helped them keep believing.

It's what we do. We keep faith alive. They will need their faith because in learning to love and believe in the Easter Bunny - loving and believing in the real thing will make sense.

I don't believe easy. I'm a skeptic by nature. I honestly don't know what I believe about many things, but I believe that this morning, a dead man got up and walked to prove that love is real and that someday I'll walk too. I can't shake that faith. I heard him again as the sunrise came through my window.

He is risen.

Because He emerged from his grave, I'm a man of faith. Each time I reach out in love, it's his hands. If you are held by me and feel love, it's his arms you feel. My laughter is his, as are my tears. My heart often breaks and my legs buckle, but the hands that always catch me are oddly nail-scared...even if they look like yours.

See, today we continue telling an ancient story. I've given my life to this. I do my best to paint the tale of Jesus every place I'm given opportunity. Our job in each others' life is to keep being the story of the ressurection. We keep giving new life to one another.

We do this with joy because the object our faith is not packed in cardboard this morning waiting for a truck to come take him back to the warehouse. He is here. He is real. He is love.

He is risen indeed.

Amen...and thank you Easter Bunny.

scatter

We started the bunny world at a disadvantage today. Someone who said they would be with us till the end quit because it got too hard. We had to scramble, making an already difficult situation all the more challenging. He left very negatively and it had a huge effect on our day.

It's funny how work can be difficult and we get through it, but when humans betray us and abandon us it just cuts deeper.

The cool thing was to realize that the people who are left will be the people who we know will stay to the end. They have proven their worth and

Today is Maundy Thursdsy. It's the day we consider the last supper.

Today Jesus has with him the people who stayed.

broken

His name was Thomas. A kid like that deserves to have his name remembered. He was so excited to see the bunny - his face told the whole story. His face was the only part of him that could. Thomas' body was twisted by MS. He got through life with a small motorized wheelchair and two loving parents. These two parents were here to make sure that Thomas could see the Easter Bunny.

When something like that happens, you know you've entered a sacred moment. I was to be a sacrament to Thomas. As they lifted his broken body - useless by our standards - onto the lap of the bunny I could feel the weight of angels looking on in wonder. Why is the God of the universe in love with this coney island sideshow of creation?

In that moment I believed we were beautiful.

No one chooses to have their body broken...useless. Unless, of course, it's for love.

Last night Jesus died.

Broken

His body, by our standards, useless

No one would choose this...unless it was for love. When love is involved, the useless becomes powerful and the broken will rise again.

Today the King rests.

Tomorrow it's a whole new day.