Monday, March 24, 2008

Easter




I fully realize that Easter was yesterday; however, I do so hope that you will indulge me a Pascal post in the spirit of Easter. Now, what Easter would be complete without a little egg dying and some Pirates of the Caribbean egg stickers?

Also, on Saturday we went to the Easter Vigil at the National Cathedral. It was a great service. The cathedral was completely dark in representation of the tomb and the darkness associated with Christ's death. The darkness was almost palpable and I felt a sense of sadness mingled with hopelessness, which I believe the darkness is wont to invoke. Upon entering, we each received a candle. At the beginning of the service, the priests and other leaders entered carrying torches and lighted candles. It was poignant to witness that symbolism of the resurrection - of bringing back the light to the Earth. As the leaders walked up the middle aisle, they would light people's candles. The most beautiful part for me was watching people lighting one another's candles. Each person turned to the next and lighted his/her candle. The dual symbolism really struck me - that of Christ bringing light and hope, coupled with the idea that we are the bearers of that light. We share the light with others and hold the locust of responsibility. It was amazing to watch the light in the cathedral grow brighter and brighter even though we each held only a small candle. It was experiential learning where I saw and felt the light increasing until it filled the whole cathedral. It made my Easter more meaningful and thoughtful.



9 comments:

Jenny said...

Whenever I read your blog I am so impressed at your articulate insightful writing. Seriously. Sad I missed out on the easter egg decorations. We need to play soon and we haven't even talked about Liz getting engaged yet. Apparently if we had really wanted to get married we should have gone to BYU law school instead of moving to d.c. :)

zlb said...

that sounds so lovely (the pirate egg stickers NOT the cathedral. . .jk jk)
i wish you could come on some of our adventures too! but i'll be coming to visit you in a month and we'll be sure to have an adventure. . deal!?

Jecca Lee Ivie Johnson said...

I wish we could have done something like a candle-lighting at our church on Sunday, but with all the kids, I'm afraid the building would have been burned down in the process. Still missing you.
Jess

M. said...

yeah for egg decorating!! I never told you, i got home and went to eat a hard boiled egg... uh, it wasnt hard boiled. haa. I love the cathedral, I had that experience in Romania- it is AMAZING!!

Heather Sanders said...

Mel, that's super weird. You saw how long I boiled those things. There's no way any part could have been left unscathed. How did that little raw egg sneak into the herd? Hilarious.

Anonymous said...

Did anyone ever find the egg Ali hid?

Heather Sanders said...

Micah, I believe that your very roommate found the blessed egg. However, I don't know if he got a treat, like we promised. Ali was in charge of that part...

Anderson's said...

Andi would have loved decorating eggs with you--she was only interested in the stickers.

mangrumminute said...

I like your hair in the pics Heather, almost as much as your egg-dyeing abilities.