May Chimes
Dear Siblings in Christ,
A blessed and happy Easter to you all! Fun fact—in the Christian calendar, the season of Easter continues for seven whole weeks, a week of Sundays. That’s a whole week longer than Lent and almost four times as long as the season of Christmas! The resurrection of Christ holds central place in how we believe God was and is at work changing the world, so as a church we leave plenty of time to explore and live into what Easter means, not just one day.
Most of the world has moved on from Easter, though. Our attention shifts pretty quickly. Just this past week, we celebrated Earth Day on April 22. First held in 1970, Earth Day is an annual event to demonstrate support for environmental protections. At St. Paul’s, we had a special Sunday School and coffee hour led by our Green Team.
But what does Earth Day have to do with Easter? Is it just a quirk of the calendar that it always falls during Eastertide? Probably—I don’t know how the original organizers picked the date, but I’m not sure the Christian liturgical calendar was on their minds. But that doesn’t mean we can’t still consider the significance of one in relation to the other.
After all, it’s no accident that Mary Magdalene confused the Risen Christ for a gardener that first Easter morning. “Supposing [Christ] to be the gardener,” the Gospel of John tells us, she doesn’t recognize him at first. On the first day of the week, God our creator starts something new in a garden once again.
Mirroring that first creation in a garden, Christ’s resurrection holds the promise of renewal and restoration for all people and all the earth. God is a gardener, because God cultivates and creates, ushering forth life from fallen seeds, molding and shaping creation from the dark soil. From the dark tomb.
Christ’s triumph over death in the tomb is good news for all creation. Not just human beings, but creation itself. God is reconciling all things to Godself. Creation will ultimately be restored, and humanity will be restored to our good and God-given purpose: to tend and cultivate all that God has made.
So this Eastertide, may we marvel at God’s new creation—in us, around us, through us. May we give thanks for our gardener God who digs in the soil to bring forth new life. And this Earth Day, may we get involved, too. May we find our calling in joining God—in ways large and small—to work for the reconciliation and restoration of all things.
In Christ,
Pastor Laura