It's beginning to look a lot like... Easter Eggs?!
Am I the only one who is a bit shocked that Lent starts next week? I feel like we have only just celebrated the miracle of Jesus being born, Jesus being incarnate and dwelling amongst us and now we gearing up to mark and remember Jesus’ death.
It seems I’m not the only one confused. Did anyone notice Easter eggs in the shops around late December, or early January? My uncle-in-law (is that actually a relation?!) posted a picture on our family Whatsapp Group on the 27th of December of Easter Eggs in his local Morrisons. I replied with the ‘shocked’ emoji. Now, I like to eat chocolate in any form as much as the next person, but this did seem a little early!
It struck me this week though, that maybe the supermarkets are onto something much more spiritually profound than they think. Sure, Easter Eggs in December is primarily about capitalism and consumption, however, I can’t help to think that Jesus’ birth points towards his death and resurrection. We see this in the gifts the Magi brought to him, the gift of Myrrh, a rich oil used to anoint the dead symbolising death and mourning. Yes, this is a morbid and strange gift for a baby, but it also symbolises the sacrifice that Jesus will inevitably give. In his birth, Jesus’ death is predicted, and what Jesus will do for us and all humanity is revealed. So, Easter Eggs at Christmas? It kind of works… I wonder if Tesco’s have thought of that?
We are about to enter into the season of Lent. A season of stripping back, simplicity and penitence. On Ash Wednesday (14th February) we will hear those familiar words from Joel 2 ‘Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing.’ Return to me with all your heart- I love that. Lent is a season for us to return to God with all our hearts, with our sacrifice and fasting, with our weeping, with our mourning, with our joy- all of it a vehicle, a method, of us drawing closer to God.
Lent is an opportunity for us to sit with unresolved questions and unresolved emotions. It’s a season of sacrifice – and why? Well, because I think it does us good to sit within these emotions. If you’re like me you want solutions and answers and Lent is like a therapist that says- why not just wait a moment, sit within these hard emotions and see what you find here? I believe, when we sit and wait, when we sacrifice and fast, we find God, drawing alongside us amid our sacrifice.
The above photo is taken from my garden. I very much have ‘L’ plates on in the garden, but it is something that brings me joy. The garden still looks pretty wintery, barren and like lots of twigs everywhere. In November I planted a load of Spring bulbs and as I went to look the other day, I can see them poking out. Hope. Months of nothing, and yet something happening and growing in the darkness. And then I stumbled across this Crocus which has somehow found a way to pop up between the cracks of the pathway. Hope. In the un-even, cracked pathway of pretty grey-looking slabs, a burst of life appears. A picture of Lent if you will, in the barren, seemingly bare landscape, little shoots of life are beginning to appear- we’re not at full bloom yet, but we are realising there is growth and life in the darkness.
My prayer and hope for you all is that you can engage with Lent in a way that is meaningful and right for you in whatever season of life you are in. I encourage you to see what we have at Church this season and if there is something you could join or go along to, maybe it’s a sacrifice, but it’s also a way for you to draw closer to God.
Laura Verrall-Kelly
6th February 2024
