Easter, simple isn't it? By Bruce Reyes-Chow (Presbyterian Minister USA)

Jesus, Bunnies and other thoughts on Easter


Okay, okay . . . I suppose that I am slightly obligated to post something on Easter. I can just hear it now from pretty much anyone that wants to bust my pastor chops, "Dude, you are the one that is here to poke and prod at the spiritual proclivities of the SF Gate community and you didn't post anything on Easter, DURING Easter? Nice going you big slacker!"

So fine . . . let me informationally muse about the season and event that the Christian church calls Easter - And this year coincides with the Jewish Passover - but just don't get used to me tackling such obvious topics in the future ;-)

First let try to preempt some of the "flames" that might come my way regarding this whole Easter thing. I do this simply to challenge folks to stay away from the too easy and inflammatory jabs and towards some helpful and informed discourse. If you want to disagree with me - which I very much welcome and expect - I want to at least help folks be more informed about my own perspectives as One of THOSE Christians.

So here is what I'll stipulate to and hope folks will see as a wide wide wide - Did I mention wide? - spectrum of beliefs when it comes to Easter and the Christian faith.

EASTER itself is not original. We all know that there have been contextual traditions and rituals that Christianity has incorporated into its life: Pagan, Gnostic, Jewish, Hallmark ;-) etc. While there have certainly been instances where Christianity has hijacked culture, in most cases, I think the incorporation of culture is a positive way to be relevant in the context of doing ministry and being church. I for one am under no delusions that Christianity is a "pure" religion, in fact I embrace the grace-filled messiness where my faith formed and guided by my heart and mind.
RESURRECTION of the body is an aspect of the faith that creates great tension for many in the church. Some do not feel the need to affirm the actual bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ in order to claim a Christian faith while others believe bodily resurrection is a non-negotiable. I am one that believes in the bodily resurrection, but feel like God is big enough to handle broad interpretations of the event of the resurrection story.
FAITH is ultimately a choice so there really is no purely logical and systematic way to prove or disprove the relative truth of one's belief system over another. This place of secure mystery is where I beleive most people of faith live, a place where heart and mind converge and one is compelled to beleive in something beyond rational explanation. This manifests itself in many ways, often creating conflict between and within faith traditions. In the case of the Christian tradition, faith choice is centered on a belief in a fully divine, fully human manifestation of God on earth, Jesus Christ.
Okay, but even with all of this, "Why Easter?"

Simply put, Easter, for Christians of my ilk, is a promise from God that tells us that even out of the depths of despair, suffering and even death - through our own actions or the actions of others - forgiveness, liberation and new life are possible. We have chosen to believe that this generous reality has been given to each of us as individuals and communities; and because of God's ongoing forgiveness for the ways that humanity has turned away from God, we live a life fueled by gratitude. As Christians, we understand this convergence between humanity and the divine to take place in person of Jesus Christ.

Basically, Easter is about HOPE and the belief that despite the PAIN, OPPRESSION and HATE that we see around us, God is a God of NEW LIFE, FREEDOM and LOVE.

See, simple isn't it? ;-)

Hope

Hope is the thing with feathers---
That perches in the soul---
And sings the tunes without the words---
And never stops- at all. Emily Dickinson

A prayer for 2009

FOR 2009 MAY GOD
BLESS you with what you PRAY for,
REWARD you with what you WORK for,
GRANT you with what you HOPE for, and
SURPRISE you with lots of MIRACLES in your life.

Dr. Salvador Ortiza,

A "special" Texas High School Football Game (ESPN story)

They played the oddest game in high school football history last month down in Grapevine, Texas.

It was Grapevine Faith vs. Gainesville State School and everything about it was upside down. For instance, when Gainesville came out to take the field, the Faith fans made a 40-yard spirit line for them to run through.

Did you hear that? The other team's fans?

They even made a banner for players to crash through at the end. It said, "Go Tornadoes!" Which is also weird, because Faith is the Lions.

"I WOULDN'T EXPECT ANOTHER PARENT TO TELL SOMEBODY TO HIT THEIR KIDS. BUT THEY WANTED US TO!"
It was rivers running uphill and cats petting dogs. More than 200 Faith fans sat on the Gainesville side and kept cheering the Gainesville players on—by name.

"I never in my life thought I'd hear people cheering for us to hit their kids," recalls Gainesville's QB and middle linebacker, Isaiah. "I wouldn't expect another parent to tell somebody to hit their kids. But they wanted us to!"

And even though Faith walloped them 33-14, the Gainesville kids were so happy that after the game they gave head coach Mark Williams a sideline squirt-bottle shower like he'd just won state. Gotta be the first Gatorade bath in history for an 0-9 coach.

But then you saw the 12 uniformed officers escorting the 14 Gainesville players off the field and two and two started to make four. They lined the players up in groups of five—handcuffs ready in their back pockets—and marched them to the team bus. That's because Gainesville is a maximum-security correctional facility 75 miles north of Dallas. Every game it plays is on the road.

This all started when Faith's head coach, Kris Hogan, wanted to do something kind for the Gainesville team. Faith had never played Gainesville, but he already knew the score. After all, Faith was 7-2 going into the game, Gainesville 0-8 with 2 TDs all year. Faith has 70 kids, 11 coaches, the latest equipment and involved parents. Gainesville has a lot of kids with convictions for drugs, assault and robbery—many of whose families had disowned them—wearing seven-year-old shoulder pads and ancient helmets.

So Hogan had this idea. What if half of our fans—for one night only—cheered for the other team? He sent out an email asking the Faithful to do just that. "Here's the message I want you to send:" Hogan wrote. "You are just as valuable as any other person on planet Earth."

Some people were naturally confused. One Faith player walked into Hogan's office and asked, "Coach, why are we doing this?"

And Hogan said, "Imagine if you didn't have a home life. Imagine if everybody had pretty much given up on you. Now imagine what it would mean for hundreds of people to suddenly believe in you."

Next thing you know, the Gainesville Tornadoes were turning around on their bench to see something they never had before. Hundreds of fans. And actual cheerleaders!

"I thought maybe they were confused," said Alex, a Gainesville lineman (only first names are released by the prison). "They started yelling 'DEE-fense!' when their team had the ball. I said, 'What? Why they cheerin' for us?'"

It was a strange experience for boys who most people cross the street to avoid. "We can tell people are a little afraid of us when we come to the games," says Gerald, a lineman who will wind up doing more than three years. "You can see it in their eyes. They're lookin' at us like we're criminals. But these people, they were yellin' for us! By our names!"

Maybe it figures that Gainesville played better than it had all season, scoring the game's last two touchdowns. Of course, this might be because Hogan put his third-string nose guard at safety and his third-string cornerback at defensive end. Still.

After the game, both teams gathered in the middle of the field to pray and that's when Isaiah surprised everybody by asking to lead. "We had no idea what the kid was going to say," remembers Coach Hogan. But Isaiah said this: "Lord, I don't know how this happened, so I don't know how to say thank You, but I never would've known there was so many people in the world that cared about us."

And it was a good thing everybody's heads were bowed because they might've seen Hogan wiping away tears.

As the Tornadoes walked back to their bus under guard, they each were handed a bag for the ride home—a burger, some fries, a soda, some candy, a Bible and an encouraging letter from a Faith player.

The Gainesville coach saw Hogan, grabbed him hard by the shoulders and said, "You'll never know what your people did for these kids tonight. You'll never, ever know."

And as the bus pulled away, all the Gainesville players crammed to one side and pressed their hands to the window, staring at these people they'd never met before, watching their waves and smiles disappearing into the night.

Anyway, with the economy six feet under and Christmas running on about three and a half reindeer, it's nice to know that one of the best presents you can give is still absolutely free.

Hope.