Seeking Authentic Voice

Although the weather suggests otherwise, spring has arrived and Easter is here. We’ve made it through the long, cold, winter and the dry barren season of Lent. Now we rejoice and celebrate God’s love in the world, made known to us in the hope of the resurrection and the promise of new life.  As Christians we have adopted a number of symbols to help us celebrate the day, celebrate spring, and celebrate new life. For example, we have the Easter bunny, Easter eggs, and my favorite, jelly beans.  I can say with certainty that the Easter bunny does not make an appearance in any of the stories in the Bible. So, how rabbits came to be a symbol for Easter is a bit of a mystery. Some suggest that it has to do with ancient fertility rites. Rabbits are very fertile, which made them a natural symbol for new life to ancient people. Later, Christians adopted the rabbit as a symbol for the new life of the resurrection. The tradition of an egg-laying rabbit came to this country by German...

A reflection for Easter Year B A group of scientists decided that humankind had come a long way and no longer needed God. So they chose one scientist to go and tell God that they were through with God. The scientist said, "We've advanced to where we can clone people and do many miraculous things, so we've decided that we no longer need you." God listened patiently, then replied: "Very well. Then let's have a human-making contest." "Good idea," the scientist said. "But," God said, "we'll do it just like I did back in the good old days with Adam and Eve." "No problem," the scientist said, bending down and grabbing a handful of dirt. "No,” God said, “First you go make your own dirt!" -- Joyful Noiseletter, 2-2000, p. 2, "The Lord''s Laughter," George Goldtrap. I have lived in a lot of places and in each of those places I have planted gardens or at the very least tended to flowers alread...