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Focal verse
“But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body” (Luke 24:1-3).
Reflection
A few months ago, our family listened to the audio book of The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street by Karina Yan Glaser (Clarion, 2017), a story of a large family living in New York City trying to save their home from a grumpy landlord. One quote in particular caught my attention: “It was amazing what the Vanderbeekers could hear when they weren’t trying to listen to anything.”
After finishing the book, we gathered with some friends for a book club, and we all went outside and listened. I watched kids and their parents close their eyes and tilt their heads up. The sun poured on our faces. We listened. We took in the silence that wasn’t really silence. When we stopped, we could hear dogs barking, a siren in the distance, birds chirping, the screech of tires and the wind rustling through the grass. In just a few minutes, we were able to hear more than if we just walked outside without the focus of paying attention.
Lent is traditionally a time for devotion and attention, for listening to how God is meeting us in a season that lifts up prayer, fasting and giving. But now that we are living into the 50 days of Easter joy, how can we take that listening and apply it to the wider world around us? How can we really listen? How can we listen and not run around so much? How can we listen and put down our phones, schedules and to-do lists?
I wonder what the women first heard when they peered into Jesus’ empty tomb. In their surprise at the emptiness before them, did they hear the drip of water droplets or the rush of wind over the rocks? Could they hear their own heart beating and the breaths one another took?
We’re invited into this sacred act of listening too. God is here to meet us in both the silence and the chaos of our lives. In just one breath, we can pause and tilt our head up and listen for the sounds around us. We can tune our hearts to God’s presence through the act of listening and knowing that God lives, breathes and moves through all creation. We can stop, listen and pray for the world and people around us. We can pray that others will know God’s love. We can listen and pray for peace.
This Easter season, may you know the comfort found in listening to God’s voice. May you hear God proclaim, “Christ is Risen, Alleluia!”
Practices
- Get outside and listen. Take a few minutes to see what you hear when you step outside. Share as a family what you heard.
- Read the Easter story together. The Spark Story Bible (Sparkhouse, 2009) is a great telling of Jesus’ resurrection. Imagine you were with the women on that first Easter. What did you hear? How did you feel? Put yourself in the story and imagine being a witness to the resurrection.
Prayer practice
The alleluias are back! Make a habit of praying with alleluias this season. Easter lasts 50 days, and even amid the challenges of our lives and the world, we can still proclaim that Christ is risen. Before meals you can pray: Alleluia, Christ is risen. Thank you for this food and all those who are with us. Keep us mindful of those who find it hard to sing alleluia.
Or when you bless your kids before school or at bedtime, you can say: Alleluia, you are loved. Alleluia, God is with you.
