Because we live two blocks from the ocean, Resurrection morning is a time of great joy for me.

Sunrise on the beach

Around 6:30AM, the singing begins because the Christian community gathers at the beachside park near our home, for the Easter sunrise service.  From the stillness of the morning, Christ the Lord is risen today.  Alleluia! wafts through the atmosphere.  

I allow time each Easter to step outside in our garden to hear the music of the saints.

Most Sunday mornings, I rise early and slip into my weekly role of chauffer. Almost no one who is mentally challenged drives, so providing transportation for the members of our group, A Special Gathering, is vital for success.

I must pick up people as well as check on drivers for the bus routes. Then I set up the chairs and tables for the chapel worship services.  I leave our house at 7AM.

Celebrating victory over death

As I left the house this Resurrection Morning, the music stopped and the sermon began.  Last year, when I passed the park, I saw a man on the second story balcony of the bar adjacent to the park.  He was leaning into the sound of the sermon.  From his body’s position, you could tell that he was receiving the good news of the resurrection of Jesus.

My imagination whirled around different scenarios that could be his story.

• Was he a clean-up person who stopped wiping tables and emptying beer glasses to listen to the music which brought back joyful childhood memories?
• Was he a widower experiencing his first Easter without his wife, who had annually dragged her husband to a sunrise service?   Now he regretted all the years he fought her and desperately wanted to tell her?
• Was he remembering his godly parents or a saintly grandfather?
• Was he a man who never missed church, but was pulled into the bar to clean the building after college revelers had spent a long night of spring-break partying?

Happy Resurrection Morning!

I had no answers to any of these questions, of course.  However, what I saw was the wonderful attraction of the good news of the resurrection.  For a few moments, we forget the Easter eggs and the chocolate candy and the new clothes. 

Jesus is risen from the dead. He has brought to the world new life.  Resurrection life has been birthed into the lives of all who will come and receive God’s priceless gift of love and redemption.

Happy Resurrection Day!