Living the Joy of the Resurrection from Joyful Films on Vimeo.
It was almost 80oF today, now it's raining. Snow perhaps on the weekend. Cool air stirs into the warm, rousing storms. Grief stirs into the Easter joy, rousing memories that flash and rumble. The 11th anniversary of my mother's death was yesterday. She loved holidays, and the little things that made them special. The traditional birthday eve wish to "sleep tight my little 10 year-old" and its corresponding morning greeting, "good morning my big 11 year-old." The chocolate bunny that appeared in my Easter basket long after I left home.
A couple of weeks before Easter, I sat down with a young film maker to talk about what resurrection means for a project for CatholicPhilly. I love what he pulled out of the hour or more of conversation: Practice joy as faithfully as we practice penance in Lent.
It's been a challenging week, but I've been remembering my mother in the little things that mark the holiday. The jelly beans from my basket tucked into my lunch. And I'm choosing to practice joy as diligently as I kept Lent's disciplines. Taking a walk with a former student between meetings, noticing the tulips that were coming up on her campus, enjoying the unexpected warmth of a March afternoon. Welcoming the stillness that enveloped the chapel this morning when the presider began, "In the name of the Father..." All stirred into the chaos of the week, flavoring the long days.
This year will be my 50th without my mother. Such a loss never leaves you but I see her and touch her in the Spring flowers now appearing despite the large white flakes flying here today, too.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you feel her near...I envision that great cloud of witnesses we are promised, and in which I fully expect to find those we love reaching out for us. I love the image of the spring flowers overlaid with the snow, even if briefly. Spring is such a wild mix.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete