A guiding mantra in programming music for Easter Sunday this year was "expressions of Easter joy." As a worship planner, having a thematic approach to each service is nothing unusual. It's in fact the default method for creating the tapestry of words, music, and liturgical action required for a cohesive hour of community worship. But on such a prominent day of the church year as Easter Sunday where the natural expectation would be "shades of forte" throughout the morning, I found it enlightening to ponder the question, "What is Easter joy?" What is it that we are celebrating and how can that be viscerally expressed through music and worship? The Three Joys quickly came to mind.

Joy. The baseline variety. An appreciation that all is well and feeling happiness and excitement in that moment. The Spirit shows us that life can never truly die. The hymn writer John Crum succinctly stated this joy in verse four of the Easter hymn "Now the Green Blade Rises": "When our hearts are wintry, grieving or in pain, Christ's warm touch can call us back to life again...Love is come again like wheat that rises green."

Ecstatic Joy. The enthusiastic intense sort. More of a burst of energy and motion — action — as words cannot adequately express this sublime restless feeling. The Good News becomes a reckless kind of hope in the reality that Love can never die. And that truth is quite exhilarating. And profound.

A Quiet Joy. The contentment and assurance — a bold hope — that the Spirit's promise of unrelenting life in every moment, even in spite of hardship, is real. The worship services last Sunday, the Second Sunday of Easter, were intended as a way to immerse ourselves into this quiet joy. Inspired by the contemplative Catholic feast day Divine Mercy Sunday on Easter 2, we entered a peaceful space where the significance of the Resurrection could be meditated upon through Taizé chants of the Paschal season, the soothing tones of a string quartet, and moments of prayerful reflection.

On Easter Sunday we experienced the expected "shades of forte" through triumphant trumpet calls and robust congregational singing of joyful Easter carols. The organ roared in its support and offered an explosive moment of ecstatic joy in a contemporary setting based on an ancient Gregorian Easter chant. The Plymouth Ringers shared a contemplative meditation on that quiet Easter morning long ago. The Chancel Choir sang a more personal and whimsical account of Jesus' return in the first person exclaiming "I'm back...Love brought me back!" presented in a gospel and musical theater influenced style.

The hope is that diverse expressions from across time, space, and varied cultures and traditions can enhance our understanding of greater truths, such as the life-giving power of the Resurrection, and connect us more deeply with the community of Life Seekers both past and present. May it be so this joyful Eastertide.

Paschal Blessings,
Mark

The liturgical Season of Easter almost always gets overlooked. And that is crazy because it’s the liturgical season when the work of the people is being called to serious action.

To be an Easter People means that our faith in the resurrection must transform the very meaning of our lives, the church we belong to, and the many deaths woven throughout and among us.

So, let’s start this 50 days of the season of Easter with candle lighting. It’s a simple and accessible way to begin this journey of transformation. I love candles. I love the slow burn of light that glows. I love scented and unscented candles. I love the metaphor of a guiding light in uncertain terrain. I love the practice and intention of striking a match against the hard cardboard box and the first smell of burnt offering when the wick gets lit. I love that the candle almost always decides how long it burns and that the control is out of my hands. I love that this practice is a prayer for this or that–for me, for you, and for the world. Nevertheless, it’s a great way to begin the journey through the Season of Easter.

Mostly, I think that this week is a candle-lighting week for our nation, so I invite you to a ritual in your home.

Gather three or four candles (tea candles or taper candles or a Yankee candle) in a central location: dining room table or coffee table.

Say these words and light a candle for each:

• I light this first candle for the 377 school shootings since Columbine leading up to the most recent shooting in Nashville. ~ God of Compassion, hear my prayer
  
• I light this second candle for Tennessee and all involved in the expelling of two members from the state legislature after they took part in a protest against gun violence from the floor of the chamber and for their reinstatement ~ God of Compassion, hear my prayer
  
• I light this third candle for all the people who could bear a child but choose not to. A federal judge in Amarillo, TX has suspended the approval of mifepristone, an abortion-inducing drug that has been on the market for more than 20 years. ~ God of Compassion, hear my prayer
  
• I light this next candle for… (insert prayers for yourself and inner circle) ~ God of Compassion, hear my prayer
  

My Easter People, intention comes first, then action. May your prayers be lifted to God in the Spirit of transformation and deep and abiding love. More than anything, may they guide your intention to DO the work of Easter People. Amen.

Marta

P.S. If you engage in this practice, I’d love to see the pictures of your lit candles to share in community. You can share them with me using this form.