Another Poem

From Anne Porter's Fire, and Torrential Rain

Fire, most beautiful of flowers,
Whose only perfume is brightness,
You have no season, and you bloom
On the highest of high altars
And under the vagrant's pot.
Through centuries on centuries
Like Christ you are everywhere,
To kindle the half cigarettes
Which the homeless find in the gutters,
And the tall paschal candle.

David Sedaris on Faith

Here is the full quote from "Jesus Shaves" by David Sedaris, as I quoted him in the sermon this morning.

I wondered then if, without the language barrier, my classmates and I could have done a better job making sense of Christianity, an idea that sounds pretty far-fetched to begin with. In communicating any religious belief, the operative word is faith, a concept illustrated by our very presence in that classroom. Why bother struggling with the grammar lessons of a six-year-old if each of us didn't believe that, against all reason, we might eventually improve? If I could hope to one day carry on a fluent conversation, it was a relatively short leap to believing that a rabbit might visit my home in the middle of the night, leaving behind a handful of chocolate kisses and a carton of menthol cigarettes. So why stop there? If I could believe in myself, why not give other improbabilities the benefit of the doubt? I accepted the idea that an omniscient God had cast me in his own image and that he watched over me and guided me from one place to the next. The virgin birth, the resurrection, and the countless miracles -- my heart expanded to encompass all the wonders and possibilities of the universe...

The essay is wonderful in its entirety. Warning: One very, very bad word closes the essay out.

+ Kit

Easter Jokes

The Orthodox traditions call Easter Monday a day of holy hilarity. It is a day to remember God's great joke on the cosmos in raising Jesus from the dead. So it is a day for celebration, and for telling jokes. Do you know a good Easter joke? Share it in the comments section (see green link at the bottom that says "comments", click and share).

Here's my favorite:


Three blondes died and are at the pearly gates of Heaven.
St. Peter tells them that they can enter the gates if they can
answer one simple question.

St. Peter asks the first blonde, "What is Easter?"

The blonde replies, "Oh, that's easy! It's the holiday in November
when everyone gets together, eats turkey, and are thankful."

"Wrong!" replies St. Peter, and proceeds to ask the second blonde
the same question, "What is Easter?"

The second blonde replies, "Easter is the holiday in December when
we put up a nice tree, exchange presents, and celebrate the birth
of Jesus."

St. Peter looks at the second blonde, shakes his head in disgust,
tells her she's wrong, and then peers over his glasses at the
third blonde.

He asks, "What is Easter?"

The third blonde smiles confidently and looks St. Peter in the
eyes, "I know what Easter is."

"Oh?" says St. Peter, incredulously.

"Easter is the Christian holiday that coincides with the Jewish
celebration of Passover. Jesus and his disciples were eating at
the last supper and Jesus was later deceived and turned over to
the Romans by one of his disciples. The Romans took him to be
crucified and he was stabbed in the side, made to wear a crown of
thorns, and was hung on a cross with nails through his hands.
He was buried in a nearby cave which was sealed off by a large
boulder."

St. Peter smiles broadly with delight.

The third blonde continues, "Every year the boulder is moved aside
so that Jesus can come out... and, if he sees his shadow, there
will be six more weeks of winter."

Holy Saturday

Today is Christ's great Sabbath. Jesus rests from his labors. His work is done; nothing more is needed. The stone is rolled in front of the entrance to the tomb, and Jesus -- dear, dead Jesus -- is safely laid away in death and darkness.

After yesterday's two services ... three hours of meditations on the Way of the Cross from noon to 3 p.m., then the Prayer Book Good Friday liturgy last night ... I asked my husband as we walked home from church under the Paschal moon:

"Well, do you think we've got him locked up for good in that tomb this time?"

As much as we love the pomp and pageantry of Easter, the promise of hope and new life, most of us are very uncomfortable with the idea of resurrection, that illogical, unscientific, irrational concept. We would rather imagine Jesus at rest, at peace, a good man unfairly killed, like Martin Luther King or Abraham Lincoln or Gandhi. The tomb is actually a comfortable place for most of us to leave Jesus.

So we can rest this day along with Jesus. Today we don't have to ponder any deep theological concepts, like how the death of Jesus saves us from Sin, or was the resurrection real or just a mass hallucination, or what all of this will mean to us come Monday morning. We can just rest, with Jesus safely tucked away where he can't trouble us or disturb us.

But starting tonight, the rest is over, the comfort ends. Tonight we light a fire in the darkness. Tonight we tell those ancient stories of our creation, our fall, our deliverance, our hope. Tonight we trust the future enough to baptize a child into it. Tonight we burn candles, shout songs of praise and allow our complacency to be uprooted once more, as the stone rolls away from the door and Jesus busts out to rock our world again and again and again.

+ Kit

The Great Vigil, with Holy Baptism and the First Eucharist of Easter begins at 8 p.m. today.

Risus Paschalis -- Easter Laughter

In Bavaria in the 15th Century, a custom arose of celebrating the Sunday after Easter as the Risus Paschalis, the Easter laugh. Priests would include jokes and funny stories in their sermons. The congrega-tion would gather after Easter services to tell stories and play practical jokes. It was a time to celebrate the big joke that God pulled on Satan by resurrecting Jesus.

Well, that couldn't last. Pope Clement X outlawed the Risus Paschalis in the 17th century. I guess folks were having too much of a good time.

An old friend of mine, Greg Risberg, goes around the country giving seminars on the importance of laughter and humor in reducing stress (he'll be at Ingham Regional Medical Center in May). He says studies show you need to laugh 24 times a day to stay healthy.

So on this April Fool's Day, enjoy some Easter Laughter. Play a prank. Tell a joke. Have a giggle or a guffaw. Christ is risen, and God is laughing at the very good joke.

Reading Ahead

Two Bible study groups at All Saints look at the upcoming readings for Sunday. Even if you can't attend one of the groups (Tuesdays at noon or Sundays at 9 a.m. Child care provided for both.), you may want to look ahead at Sunday's lessons.

This week is Easter 3, and you can find the readings here.

The gospel lesson is Luke's famous Road to Emmaus story. As you read it, think about how ... like those runaway disciples ... "your eyes are kept from recognizing" the risen Christ. What gets in your way when you try to see Jesus? What keeps you from seeing the resurrection going on around you?

Thoughts are welcome. Click the comments button and share yours.