Eastertide
As I write this entry, we are still in the season of Easter. Eastertide lasts fifty days and ends on the Day of Pentecost a.k.a. Whitsunday. I must admit that for many folks, Easter is thought of as one day, marked with a joyous celebration of food and treats after the self sacrifice of Lent.
In fact, for many, Eastertide tends to be a time to take a break from going to church, sort of like "Spring Break". Yet, in the early church, this was a time to celebrate the new Christians who were Baptized at the Easter Vigil and would be "formally" welcomed on the Day of Pentecost. This was a time of celebration and joy because more people were coming to Christ, new people were committing themselves to share the good news of love for each other.
For those of us who have committed ourselves to be followers of Christ in the past, this is a time for us to renew ourselves and remind ourselves that Jesus wants us to love each other as He loved us.
Every day, I witness countless people saying hurtful things to each other, or about each other. I see people doing hurtful things to others. The news is full of countless examples of acts of violence and hateful actions and or hateful speech directed at others.
This is NOT what Jesus expects of us, this is NOT what we as followers of Christ should accept. We must be examples of Christ's love. We must be known... as in the words of one of my favorite Christian songs...
"And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love Yeah they'll know we are Christians by our love"
In fact, for many, Eastertide tends to be a time to take a break from going to church, sort of like "Spring Break". Yet, in the early church, this was a time to celebrate the new Christians who were Baptized at the Easter Vigil and would be "formally" welcomed on the Day of Pentecost. This was a time of celebration and joy because more people were coming to Christ, new people were committing themselves to share the good news of love for each other.
For those of us who have committed ourselves to be followers of Christ in the past, this is a time for us to renew ourselves and remind ourselves that Jesus wants us to love each other as He loved us.
Every day, I witness countless people saying hurtful things to each other, or about each other. I see people doing hurtful things to others. The news is full of countless examples of acts of violence and hateful actions and or hateful speech directed at others.
This is NOT what Jesus expects of us, this is NOT what we as followers of Christ should accept. We must be examples of Christ's love. We must be known... as in the words of one of my favorite Christian songs...
"And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love Yeah they'll know we are Christians by our love"
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