Saturday evening before Easter Sunday our church celebrates an Easter Vigil. The Vigil starts a fire from which we light the Paschal Candle. I went to church early on Holy Saturday, to attend choir rehearsals and then a funeral. I ended up forgetting to bring our fire pit which the fire would be lit in.

After the funeral, I spoke with the priest and apologized for forgetting it. I asked when I should bring it. She responded, “At least an hour before the service”. Wanting to not add to the any anxiety or complicate the final preparations for the service I showed up an hour and a half before the service.

Inside the sanctuary, it was still dark. The altar was unadorned, but odor of Easter lilies wafted in from the wings. I knew it was going to be a long yet beautiful service. Spending an hour and a half in quiet preparation seemed like a long time. Yet it also felt very alluring.

I sat briefly and thought of those times, early in a romance, of waiting for my beloved. While there was a longing for the physical presence there was also something incredibly beautiful about the waiting. Yet I thought it would be good if I got outside and walked a little bit before settling into the long evening, especially considering my health.

Down the street there is a library and a playground. There are also portals in the augmented reality game, Ingress that I play. I headed over to the playground and saw a family taking a picture. There was no one else around so the man was taking the pictures. I got out of the car and offered to take pictures so he could be in them. The lighting wasn’t the best, but I took some pictures and they were appreciative.

Afterwards, I headed up to the little park on the other side of the church. I saw that there was a new Ingress player in the area and I sent him a message. He stopped by and I gave him some Ingress supplies and talked briefly. Then I headed back to the church.

As I sat quietly, the priest along with others who would be helping in the service entered the sanctuary. They discussed the logistics for the service. It would not be the typical service. There would be the fire, candles, lots of readings and hymns, a renewal of baptismal vows, and then the great noise and the altar being transformed. For me, the feeling went from waiting quietly for the arrival of the beloved to a time of preparation.

The service, when it started, went along well. I read The Valley of Dry Bones, and I thought about how, in many ways, my spiritual life had been a valley of dry bones. There had been times of going to church out of habit, or not even going at all. Times when it felt like I was going to church because it was something I was supposed to, like going to the office each day.

Yet after the guided meditation at a poetry conference close to a year ago, my relationship with the God of Love bloomed. Things started connecting, like bone to its bone. Sinews of a new, deeper faith began appearing.

After the readings came the renewal of baptismal vows.
“Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ? Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?”

This great love from God that we had been waiting for, preparing for, will you show that love to your neighbors? That is what I’ve felt called to over this past year. That is what I’ve been spending time trying to discern how God wants me to share it in new deeper ways.

“I will, with God's help.”

The priest and acolytes then proceeded into the congregation splashing us all with holy water. She seemed particularly joyful about giving me a good dousing with the holy water and it was part of our shared Easter joy.

Since I had been in the church as the priest prepared for the service, I was called into action, to help remove the cover over the altar, revealing it in its glory, and to help move the Easter lilies into place around the baptismal font and the altar.

It was a wonderful service, full of God’s love, peace, and joy which I hope to carry with me as I return to the struggles of daily life.

In my neighboring town, adults fought over Easter eggs. In Pakistan terrorists targeted Christians celebrating Easter. God’s love, a love which conquers death, is sorely needed. Will I be able to proclaim it, to show it to my neighbors?

“I will, with God's help.”