Morning Prayer April 17, 2012
Emily Seitz
As a senior, for this past semester, much of what I have been hearing from
professors and students and others on this campus has actually been focused more on
what is going to happen “after” Valpo, rather than what is actually happening now. And
of course, that has only intensified as graduation has gotten closer (It’s in 33 days, not
that I’m counting). So I probably shouldn’t have been surprised at all when I was told
that the theme for this talk was entitled “Easter after Valpo”.
But that is kind of a difficult thing for me to talk about. I have not had any
experience “after Valpo” just yet. So naturally, in preparation, I first examined the
experience I have had of Easter while I have been here, at Valpo.
My first Easter here was actually my sophomore year, two years ago. That was a
difficult Easter for me, as well as for most of this campus. Not only was it my first Easter
away from home, but the entirety of the Easter season was spent in mourning, as I and the
rest of campus grieved the death of Pastor Darlene Grega. I spent a lot of time that Easter
season trying to reconcile the joy that I was certain was supposed to come with Easter
and the sadness that all of us were feeling instead. At first, I thought that it would make
more sense if maybe we just pretended it wasn’t Easter, just for a while. If we put the
“Alleluias” away for a little bit longer, and maybe dressed the church back in purple for
Lent again, until we felt really ready to actually celebrate Easter. I thought that if we did
those things, everything would make more sense. What did not make sense to me was
acting as if it was Easter and feeling like it was still Lent. I felt like we were just faking
Easter, and I didn’t think that could be right. God couldn’t want that, could He?
But later, I realized that it was of the utmost importance that we continued to
celebrate Easter as best we could during that difficult time. During that Easter season,
the risen Christ was with us in the midst of our grief. Refusing to recognize the
resurrection that year would have made the grieving process that much more difficult. It
is just as important to recognize the risen Christ in our midst when we are grieving as it is
when we are joyously proclaiming the resurrection. Easter is not something that we need
to feel happy about just for the sake of feeling happy. Sometimes our celebration of
Easter truly is filled with alleluias and irrepressible joy. But sometimes, our celebration
of Easter is nothing more than acknowledging through tears of sadness the truth of the
resurrection and the presence of Christ in our midst. And when that’s the best we can do,
Jesus is still there, and the Easter promise is still true.
So what does all of that mean when I think about living Easter after Valpo? I
think it means that Easter is not something that we can just “put away” until we are in the
right mood. It is not just a holiday or a season that lasts for the right amount of time.
Easter does not begin when we decorate the church for Easter and end when we take
those decorations down. It can’t be something that is limited by the dates of a liturgical
time period. Easter is a way that we, as Christians, live in the world.
Let me digress with a brief story. When I was working on this talk, I was also
talking to my younger brother, a freshman in high school. He asked me what I was doing
and I told him that I was preparing this talk about Easter, and he inevitably asked me
what I was writing about. I told him that I was writing about how we need to celebrate
Easter all the time. His joking response was “So...does that mean I need to go hide some
more eggs?” We can joke and laugh about that because the idea of it seems absurd. It’s
not even two weeks after Easter, and no one is having Easter egg hunts anymore. All of
the stores are probably starting to get ready for the 4th of July. According to the standards
of the secular world, it is probably odd that we even still have our churches decorated for
Easter. Aren’t we a little bit behind?
But that is precisely the attitude that we need to take with us from this place. The
celebration of Christ’s resurrection does not simply end. Whenever we gather for
worship, and come together for communion, that is what we are celebrating, no matter
what time of the church year it is, no matter where we are, and no matter what we are
personally rejoicing or grieving about.
I’ve learned here how to be a part of an Easter people, and that is what I can take
with me, after Valpo. I can live Easter after Valpo no matter where I am or what I’ll be
doing. It doesn’t matter what city I’m in, or what job I have (or don’t have), or anything
else. I plan on living Easter now, after Valpo, and for the rest of my life. So…Christ is
risen! Alleluia! (He is risen indeed! Alleluia!)