My sermon for Easter Sunday.  I still need to work on the conclusion.

Christ is risen! Easter greetings from The United Church of Canada Moderator Mardi Tindal from the Mount of Olives, overlooking the old city of Jerusalem.

... does it really mean anything for the bigger picture? I mean other than perhaps being able to justify a fixed date for Easter in place of the current floater.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/academic-says-easter-date-now-fixed-20110418-062726-793.html

Mendalla

As announced last week, I leave for Haiti tomorrow, along with a few other United Church representatives.

I'm grateful for many notes of encouragement, some of which have made connections between the journey of the Haitian people and the resurrection story of Easter.

The people of Haiti are certainly engaged in "practising resurrection," as a Wendell Berry poem puts it, and it will be humbling, no doubt, to hear and see their stories of courage.

How do you approach Good Friday this year?

Do you enter it after study throughout the time of Lent?

Do you enter it  seeing the story alive in today's world, or is it something far removed from where you are

Do you have a special ritual on Good Friday, something, possibly through your church or community, which has meaning to you, but isn't part of the traditional service.

How do you enter this Holy weekend?

Our little family hadn’t yet finished eating dinner last Saturday when Earth Hour arrived, so we turned off the electric lights. As candlelight softened faces, the conversation hardened. It was difficult and painful to contemplate some of the questions raised by the week’s headlines. Weakening ecological health. Deepening distrust in the church. Tensions between those for whom the church embodies a community of hope and those for whom it represents the weight of oppression.

 I am going to be changing my avatar for Easter.  Since last year, (inspired by Crazyheart) I have been using different kinds of bears. Presently, my avatar is a bear taking his coat off, in honour of spring.

I am undecided on which one to use for easter. the following picture is in the lead. What do you think?

It is the first day of Spring - new life, new hope ,and new beginnings.

What does the ressurection - the raising of Jesus, the coming to life again mean to you?

I was going to add more but I think this covers what I would like to discuss.