Easter Presence

Luke 24:15 – And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.

When little people have grown, and there aren't any around the house anymore, we tend to forget that "build-up" toward Christmas and Easter. Sure, the stores are full of commercial reminders, there's talk of Santa and the Easter Bunny and of course, there's the excitement of the holiday attached to the occasion.

But there is a different type of build-up that little people bring also.

Way back in "the olden days" when I taught Sunday School, we used felt boards, and as the weeks progressed, the story was told with little felt figures which miraculously just "stuck on" to the felt board. Those little "students" would be so excited to be chosen to put the figures on the board and of course everyone wanted to be the one chosen for Easter Sunday. One could only hope that some of the story being told would "stick" as miraculously as the felt figures.

When our kids were little, the felt board was almost a thing of the past; new times, new teachers, new ideas. One year they made palm leaves out of construction paper and the kids led a processional, discarding the leaves up the aisle to the altar for their story, before heading off to their class rooms.

These days there are, I am sure, many other ways the kids prepare us the for "Easter Presence". This morning I saw a new one.

We volunteers do a "Bereavement Walking Group" along the sea wall every Saturday morning. We had completed the walk and most had left, but three of us felt like continuing. The rain was pelting down but we didn't care. We re-did the same route but this time, there were beautiful little rocks placed inconspicuously throughout the route. A couple of kids had painstakingly painted pictures on each rock and carefully placed them by the base of a tree, a shrub, on a ledge, at a join in the sidewalk. No one saw them do it; we just think it to be kids by the artwork and the signatures. There were goldfish, seagulls, flowers, moon, stars, whales, and more.

One was also obviously Jesus and another one simply said "Happy Easter".

Prayer: Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the many, many ways in which your presence is felt. We especially thank you for showing us through the creativity of little children. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.