So. Don’t be afraid, k?

I am happy to report, I no longer have writer’s block 🙂

My brain had a nice little rest over the weekend, and began grinding its gears, churning out a plethora of topics for me to babble about, for your reading enjoyment. Yes, of course I took notes. Otherwise, I would likely still be stuck.

Can I get a ‘woot woot’ up in here, please? 

The brainstorm was kicked off after discovering the church program from Easter service in the glove compartment of my mommy mobile. The sermon was fantastic. In fact, it was as if Pastor Jim read my ‘Easter Week’ post and decided he should address me specifically. My logical mind says that’s not what happened, because he doesn’t know I have a blog, but my ‘put-it-out-there-into-the-universe-and-see-what-you-get’ mind is certain that’s how it went down. That part of my brain is a bit self-centered. Please forgive her. Regardless, I made the request for proof, reassurance, guidance, etc…and BAM…there it was. On Easter Sunday. So I took notes on the program with the intention of doing a post about it. Therefore, I am giving inspirational credit where credit is due: Thank you, Pastor Jim. Thank you 🙂

At its bare bones, the sermon was about The Resurrection and the explanation of why we, as Christians, celebrate Easter. However, it was filled with so many reasons why we should believe that “It is what it is”–a statement we often make as humans with respect to our lives, our jobs, the government, the economy–ISN’T.  As a student of English grammar, I cringe at the written contradiction. As a student of life, and a new seeker of proof that God exists in my everyday life, I do a happy dance when I see it. Because it makes sense.

To me.

As it was told to me by Pastor Jim, there are “Five Isn’t (s) of Easter”. Here they are:

1. Death is it.   Well, no it isn’t. That is, if you believe Jesus rose 3 days after being crucified and put in the tomb. I happen to believe He blew this one out of the water. Which, of course, means there IS life after death and I can go to my Heaven and dance endlessly to Dave Matthews. For eternity. Amen.

2. Hope is a fallacy.  Um, no. The Resurrection is proof of hope. Believing this statement is easy breezy lemon squeezy for me. Being more of an optimist, rather than a pessimist, realist or opportunist, I’ve never had an issue with hope. Finding it is never a problem for me, and I am so determined that I never give it up. Never. When I can’t find a shiny side to life, I just throw in some elbow grease and polish the dull one. Moving on.

3. We are stuck with paying the price for our sins.  This one trips me up a bit, I must admit. Especially when I think about all the “what if’s” in my past, or the decisions I’ve made that clearly had consequences, not all of them good. This being said, I believe this statement doesn’t apply to tangible things. It applies to behaviors. After all, The Seven Deadly Sins are behaviors: wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony. When I think of it that way, I can wrap my mind around the concept and feel safe in the blanket of forgiveness. On the other hand, if this isn’t the proper interpretation of the “isn’t”, then I am, in effect….ESS OH ELL.

4. Just surviving is the rule of the day. This is a biggie for me, because in the last few years, it HAS been the rule of my life, and the focus of my family. It was also the rule of my childhood. Come to think of it, it’s pretty much been the story of my life. Of course, there have been a few times I felt I was thriving rather than surviving, but I could probably count them one hand. Pathetic, I know. My desire is to change my approach to life from now on. To focus more energy on thriving spiritually, which will no doubt, help me thrive in other areas as well. Often, I spend so much time anticipating the arrival of the next moment, I miss living in the one I am in. No more. After all, God gave his only son, and Jesus gave his own life so that I could live. It’s my duty to live it to the fullest. Period.

5. We are alone in this life.  If your beliefs are rooted in Christianity, then it is understood “there is no time when Jesus is not present” in your life. Although I have faith in the validity of the statement, I admit I don’t always feel His presence. This is a problem for me, as it invokes all sorts of guilt on my part, and makes me question whether or not I am a ‘good Christian’. Am I a good person? Yes. Good Christian? Um…what does that mean anyway? Mama always said to everything will be okay if  you are “living right”. I believe I am. In addition, I am told that Jesus’ job is to come to me and make himself known. This being said, every time I go into the sanctuary of our chosen place of worship, I start to cry. Not just on Sundays, or while the service is going on. EVERY TIME. That’s enough for me. I’ll just accept that when I’m not ‘feeling the love’, He is busy making someone else cry…in a good way, of course.

Take from this whatever you wish, as it’s by no means the gospel for everyone. At any rate, that’s my sermon for the day 🙂

xo,

N