Easter

Happy Easter!

This actually feels kind of weird. This is the first Easter I haven't gone down to Quincy for.

UPDATE: This morning I went to this church where I attended my first Eastern Orthodox service. Orthodoxy is the one major branch of Christianity I've never experienced firsthand, except for seeing some of the artwork in old Byzantine churches in Madaba, Jordan. I liked the service, which wasn't as long as I expected, and I met a couple of interesting people while we waited for them to open the doors, none of whom was a regular member of the church. So I wasn't alone.

I still don't know where to place Easter theologically. The idea I grew up with - that there was sin, and someone had to pay for it, so Jesus volunteered and now we don't have to - doesn't make much sense if you think about it for too long. I have long been drawn to the notion that the coming of Jesus was part of the plan of Creation from the very beginning in order to bring it to fulfillment. This idea has been around since at least the Middle Ages, but has never been the dominant view in any denomination I am aware of. In this scheme, the Crucifixion stands as an experience of the world's suffering connecting God and humanity. I suppose from there the concept of the Resurrection could still follow in much the same triumph-over-death way, but something still seems to be missing.

The highlight of the service: Near the end was a part of the liturgy telling how Christ was risen and we were all saved now and the world would soon become spiffy. Then there was a moment of silence, into which a toddler loudly interjected the word "Yay!!!" And there was much amusement.