EASTER

Yesterday was a beautiful Easter Day! CHRIST IS RISEN!

The sun was out and was warm. The flowers were beautiful. The music soared through the rafters and to the heavens. The fellowship and time spent with friends was amazing. Most importantly though was the remembrance of God's goodness and love for us despite our waywardness. The celebration of this love through the proclamation of Christ's resurrection!

Our minister during his 8:30am sermon challenged us as Christians to find our "Easter Dream". That dream which allows us to move forward and make the world a better place. He said Christians are not just meant to be a happy people. We are to be a people of vision. A people who look, with God's help and direction, to make the world a better place. So what would your Easter Dream be???

I spent some time throughout the day and evening yesterday asking myself that question. I woke up again this morning with it on my mind. What is my Easter Dream??? There are many lofty dreams and visions that come to mind. Working toward world peace and making the world a place where all people love and accept each despite their many differences. A world where we embrace our differences as a wonderful celebration of God's goodness in creating each one of us as unique persons. OR...working to eradicate world hunger and or poverty. I think I would like my dream to be something a bit more personally oriented. Not in a selfish way, but in a way that I can actually work with it to maybe turn it into a reality. Though world peace and acceptance is a lofty goal as well as a world without hunger or poverty I am enough of a cynical realist to know I can not solve those problems....I can however work on myself. So my Easter Dream is......

.....to daily work with God to discover who he wants me to be as a woman of faith. To allow him to show me where he wants me to be, what he has for me to do, and to grant me the wisdom to see and understand these things. I want to learn to daily trust him with every moment of my life. I want to learn to trust that despite being 60, despite the unexpected twists and turns my life is currently taking, and despite life not being what I hoped and planned for he has a path for me; he has a purpose for me and both are good. I want to understand not only in my mind but in my heart that dreams are not lost, they are just changed. I want the dreams and visions for my life, for my future to be God driven, not me driven. He has a much better track record than I do for directing and caring for things. I also want the courage and the strength to work with him. I do not expect to sit back and let him work me a a puppet. I do not believe that is how God works in any one's life. A life lived with God as the Lord of our life is a two way proposition.

I believe that if I can keep this Easter Dream in front of me, I may not bring about world peace or end world hunger, but I will be an active participant in bringing a bit of God's heaven to earth. Isn't this the vision Jesus taught us to pray for when he taught the Lord's prayer. "Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven."