Did you know there is a road to Easter? Not the Road to Emmaus. That would be rightly called the road out of Easter. No, the road to Easter is not a place, it is a dimension in time. We Christians call this time LENT, from the German LENZ which means Spring, or more aptly, the time of preparation for Spring. Our LENT is a time of preparation for the Holy Week of Easter; a time to prepare our hearts and minds to once again remember most personally just how much God loves each and every one of us.
This road to Easter begins on Ash Wednesday, this year on March 5, 2014. Ash Wednesday is most often worshiped with services in Christian Churches where music, sermons, communion, and ashes are used to help us remember the suffering, and the reason for the suffering, of Jesus the Christ. Why ashes?
From the beginning of recorded time, in almost every human culture, the imposition (placing upon), or dumping upon, of ashes over the head and body has symbolized grief and the loss of a loved one. In some tribal or more rural / primitive cultures today mourners, upon learning of the death of a loved one will take cold ashes from a fire and place them over themselves to represent the return of the loved ones body to earth. 'Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.' And yes, some use dirt.
As the more technological peoples of the planet have moved away from the creation of much wood ash in the home some Christian groups have forgotten the symbolism. But not all. So we United Methodist Christians often gather in our churches, usually in an evening service, on this Wednesday each year to celebrate the human life, and remember the human death, of Jesus.
This road, like any on a map, has definite destinations along the way. Called Waypoints by GPS users, these destinations involve each participant finding more of Jesus in each service, Bible study, or other event planned by their faith community as each of the seven weeks of LENT go by. Some waypoints are More Personal Surrender to Christ, New Transformation of Actions and Behaviors, Renewed Fellowship within the Body of Believers, The Discovery of Joy in the Midst of our Trials, and the Loving Forgiveness of Christ fort ourselves. Like any good journey, LENT is a time of finding something new around every bend in the road.
Hope Church of Douglassville, Pa, has special Lenten messages planned out of the book of Isaiah and Sunday Pastor led Bible Studies at 5 pm each Sunday evening.
But what if the road to Easter was not just a place in time, but was also a place on a map? What if you could get to EASTER on a marked highway? What if I search Google Maps and see if there is, anywhere in the world, a place called Easter.
I searched, and there IS!
Eastertown, UK! In the middle of southwest England, actually in the middle of fields and sheep herds in a defined location named for the place our Lenten Road takes us. Yes, the place is currently inhabited by only one family, but they have the distinction of living in the only Eastertown I could find on the planet. So I looked further. What if Google Maps could help me find a community with another derivation of the name EASTER. Low and behold... Easterville, Missouri!
Not quite as idyllic as the photo before it but honestly, this is a Google View image so the quality just isn't the best. And yes, this very rural setting, like it's English cousin, is made up of one family farm on the Missouri Plains east of Kansas City. Except that here there is a crossroads at the marked village location.
Perhaps both communities were at one time thriving centers of some human habitation and commerce. Perhaps, once, there was even a church somewhere nearby where people gathered to remember, as we do, the suffering of Jesus for each of us..
I began this post with the purpose of defining the road to Easter all believers should be taking together; a road of remembrance. But along the way I discovered that every good journey has something new to teach, inspire, and excite us.
In three months Mona and I depart for the 'blue highways' (We'll struggle to avoid red roads- expressways- whenever possible) of North America. We will discover many new places and sights; some of which may not even yet be find-able on Google. I have to wonder if our roads will take us near any places called EASTER next LENT. If not, I know they will take us to LENT and EASTER itself, and that will be with believers we get to meet for the first time everywhere we go.
One final word of warning to all who travel the mapped roads to Easter. Drive carefully. Easter is all about Jesus for those mature enough to know, but don't ruin the holiday for the kiddies!
-Pastor Ken
