Holy Week is here. My experience of it varies each year. In Alaska, Holy Week is a somber, but hopeful time. No matter how late Easter comes, wearing short-sleeved spring dresses and bare legs with strappy shoes is usually pushing the season. We still put on chilly-weather attire, even on warmer, sunny days. Only teens are brave enough to wear sandals and T-shirts.
We’re all rejoicing that our daylight hours are longer, hinting that warmer days are ahead. At least by May. Or later.
Since my husband’s passing, I change the floral tribute to him at the cemetery each season. In other seasons, changing the cemetery decoration brings feelings of loss, how things used to be, melancholy or regret.
In contrast, the change during Holy Week brings me hope—a hope I want to share with the world by having an Easter tribute in the cemetery. We Christians look forward to celebrating Christ’s resurrection and our own future with God in eternity.
This message is excerpted from “Holy Week brings the promise of resurrection and hope” by Phyllis Rude from the March 29, 2021, blog of the Women of the ELCA.
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