I am choosing to learn more about the discipline of celebration. We have cycles of feasting and fasting. I tend to learn more about the “fasting” part… the “giving up”, the “hard work,” etc. I honestly don’t do as good with the celebrating. I am walking through Eastertide with a listening ear and a willing heart to walk better in celebration.
One of those areas is seeing what the Church did after the resurrection. Easter Week’s readings used Acts and I love those stories! I remember hearing years ago someone say about Paul, “Whenever Paul showed up there was either a revival or a riot, and he didn’t seem to care which one it was.”
NT Wright quoted a bishop saying a similar thing:
I cherish the remark attributed to a bishop who complained that he didn’t seem to be having the same impact as the first apostles.
‘Everywhere St Paul went,’ he said, ‘there was a riot. Everywhere I go they serve tea.’
Wright, T. (2008). Acts for Everyone, Part 1: Chapters 1-12 (p. 61). Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
Living in Eastertide is to understand the power now delivered to us. When we show up, what happens? I’m not advocating riots. I am suggesting that there might be an activity of the Spirit possible in us that has an impact on people around us, even if we may not recognize it in that moment. There may be opportunities for healing, for significant conversations, for a word of encouragement you hadn’t thought of before, or someone seeking you out because they have something stirring in their lives and you just seem to be the one to talk to about the situation.
What happens when we show up?
Apprentice 2 Jesus 