a thought

I DID get to have Easter with my parents, something that's not been possible in almost 10 years. And that was good. We went to church together, we sang the old hymns together, then we went out for a fantastic brunch at one of the super-nice but under-rated (and therefore, usually not crazy-busy) restaurants in my parents' town.

One thing I always think of, with the traditional statement-and-response at Easter, is the power of faith, of how it keeps people going, of how people hold onto it even when they are persecuted for it or when it is forced underground.

Perhaps, even, some people's faith becomes even stronger in the face of having to carry it out "underground," in the face of official (or unofficial) opposition.

I'm reminded of the story Madeleine L'Engle recounted, during the Communist era in the Soviet Union. A party official had given a long (apparently "attendance required" for the townsfolk) speech promoting Communism and degrading religion. The old opiate-of-the-masses-and-you-are-all-too-sophisticated-for-that-childish-drivel stuff.

And then an old priest asked if he could get up and say three words.

The official allowed him to - thinking, I am sure, "What can this old fool say in three words that is better than my long and eloquent speech?"

And the priest got up. And surveyed the people for a moment. And proclaimed, "Christ is risen!"

And the people, almost as a single voice, responded, "He is risen indeed!"

That story always gives me hope and joy - that even when what is beautiful and true is trampled in the dust, it will spring up again.

Easter is kind of like Thanksgiving - there's not a whole lot of messy trappings around the holiday (like there is around Christmas). Yeah, there are the dyed eggs and the chocolate bunnies but they seem to only be a small part. The meaning is the biggest part of the day. It's also like Thanksgiving in that it gives a chance to stop, reflect, and catch your breath. And maybe be caught up a little short by the way you've been acting or the attitudes you've had.

Other than that? It's really good to be home. After traveling, there are so many things I am grateful for - my own bed, my own clean bathroom (after 18 hours on a bus, a clean bathroom is a lovely thing indeed), a chance to put my stuff away, my colleague who put up signs notifying students of my absence when it turned out the secretary had an emergency and couldn't be in...

(I had asked my mom to call the secretary, and when I found out she wasn't in - through a panicked cell-phone call from a truck stop in Arkansas, nowhere near my destination - I gave my mom the only other number I could remember, the guy I co-teach a class with, and she got him. And he told her to relay the message to me that I was not to worry, he had it well in hand, even down to letting my TA know that lab was cancelled, and these kind of foul-ups happened to everyone. He also said to me today, "I knew why your mom was calling - when I saw that your car wasn't in the lot Monday morning, I knew you had to have had travel problems." I guess being annoyingly consistent in your behaviors is a good thing; people will look out for you when something's atypical.)

Even the persnickety motor-pool lady, whom I had to call and leave a message with to tell her to cancel my van for Monday afternoon's lab and explained why, left me a voice-mail message saying she was "praying for my safe return through the floods." I had made fun of her persnicketiness (well, not to her face) in the past, I may not be so quick to do that now...