easter non sequiturs

….. Piper was told to dress up for Easter. She put on a shirt and her favorite purple sweatpants. Her dad came to check on her. “No, sweetie. Something a little more dressy.” She changed her shirt.

…. during the message today, my pastor proffered the idea that Mary Magdalene doesn’t recognize the resurrected Jesus, not because He is glowing or transfigured, but because He is mangled, bearing the marks of His death on His body still. She cannot recognize this man — until He speaks her name. And that is how He connects to her again, simply saying, “Mary” with that voice, the voice of the only person who had ever truly loved her. And then she knew Him.

I wish I could remember exactly how he said it, but it made me cry.

….. this quote came up in the sermon, “Addiction is a force that turns us away from love …. ALL of us suffer from addiction” ~ Gerald May, Addiction and Grace. I like that.

….. but then — um, also — during worship, a fellow took to dancing in the aisle about 2 feet away from me, slipping off his shoes and bouncing about in his stockinged feet. I watched him, of course, because I’m only human and because I LOVE to be amused, even at church. Especially at church. At one point, his feet, fueled by da joy of da Lord, I guess, began to stomp about violently in what I think was an attempt at “the running man.” And mere seconds later, I was shaking with laughter as our running man was struck down, made to trip over his own flailing feet — by the Holy Spirit, I guess, clearly as displeased as I by this sorry, spastic frolic. All that, and on Easter, too!

You know, sometimes it’s just the littlest things that can renew your faith in God.