| The title refers to something that I said when I was a kid. I don’t really remember it very well, but the story has been retold to me enough that I know it definitely happened! Apparently on Easter when I was around 4-years-old we were sitting in the pew at church and all of the lilies were out to decorate the church, purple banners were up, everyone was dressed in their Sunday best (which, for our church, meant actually wearing a dress and a tie to church instead of jeans and a button-up, which was the standard attire). Overcome with delight and sensory overload, I exclaimed (after a hymn, when it was very quiet) this is the REAL Easter!! To which everyone turned around and looked at me and smiled / laughed. I think by the “real” Easter I meant “oh so THIS is what Easter is about! It’s not really about the Easter bunny that brings me a basket full of chocolate eggs, because that’s actually kind of weird, not that someone dying on a cross and coming back to life isn’t a little strange or anything, but I think I’m figuring it out.” I was definitely a garrulous little one, as you can probably imagine… | El titulo se refiere a algo que dije cuando era nina. No me acuerdo muy bien, pero la historia ha sido contada tantas veces que estoy segura que en verdad paso! Aparentemente una Pascua, cuando tenia como 4 anos, estabamos sentados en las bancas de la igleasia y todas la flores estaban puesta afuera como decoracion, todo el mundo vestia su mejor ropa de Domingo (lo cual, para nuestra iglesia, significaba usar un vestido o corbata en vez de jeans y camisa, que es la ropa que se usa regularmente). Llena de felicidad y copada con tanto estimulo, grite…(despues de una cancion y cuando todos estaban callados) esta es la VERDADERA Pascua!! A lo que todo el mundo se dio vuelta y me miro con una sonrisa o carcajada. Creo que por “verdadera” Pascua me referia a “oh esto es Pascua! No se trata del conejito trayendo canastas llenas de huevos de chocolate, porque eso es un poco extrano, no que alguien muriendo en una cruz y volviendo a la vida no es un poco extrano tampoco, pero creo que lo estoy entendiendo.” Era una nina un poco alocada, como lo pueden imaginar… |
the REAL Easter!^^^
NOT the real Easter!! ^^^
| Anyway, today I leave you with two little pieces of media that seem rather appropriate for Easter. First is a picture of Chupete…I know, even on EASTER I can find a way to bring him into a post. I took a photo of him about a month ago sitting on top of his dog house watching the sun rise. At the time it was the start of a brand new routine and now he does it every day. We let him out at around 6:00AM and he sits on his little rooftop watching the sunrise (or just staring off into the distance) for about 45 minutes. It’s awesome! I sent my mom the picture and she LOVED it and told me it made her think of a Celtic hymn that can be found in Listening for the Heartbeat of God: A Celtic Spirituality by J. Philip Newell. She sent me the hymn and the commentary that Newell offers, which I’m copying below:
“In the third verse of the hymn the graces of the elements are invoked in a way that suggests that the spiritual exists within the matter of creation and that God’s healing and restoring powers are to be found in the goodness of the earth…There is an awareness that all created things carry within them the grace and goodness of God. Thus the hymn, in invoking the strength of God, invokes the energies of the elements:”
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Pero bueno, hoy los dejo con dos cosas que me parecian apropiadas para la Pascua. Primero es una foto de Chupete…lo se, incluso en PASCUA puedo encontrar una manera de incorporarlo a un post. Pero en verdad, saque una foto de el hace un mes atras sentado encima de su casa mirando el amanecer. En ese tiempo era el comienzo de esta nueva rutina, y ahora lo hace todos los dias. Lo dejamos salir a las 6:00 am y el se sienta en el techo de su casa a ver el amanecer (o simplemente mira el horizonte) por 45 minutos. Es genial! Le envie la foto a mi mama y le ENCANTO y me dijo que le hacia pensar en un himno Celta que puede ser encontrado en Listening for the Heartbeat of God: A Celtic Spirituality by J. Philip Newell. Ella me envio el himno y el comentario del autor, el cual copie mas abajo:
“En el tercer verso del himno, la gracia de los elementos estan invocados en una manera que sugiere que lo espiritual existe en la creacion y que los poderes de sanacion y restoracion de Dios se pueden encontrar en lo bueno de la tierra…Existe un reconocimiento que todo lo creado tiene consigo la gracia y voluntad de Dios. Por eso el himno, invocando la fuerza de Dios, invoca la energia de los elementos:” |
I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the star-lit heaven,
The glorious sun’s life-giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt seat
Around the old eternal rocks.
| I’m pretty sure Chupi is definitely soaking in the glorious sun’s life-giving ray here, and I think this photo is a nice reminder that all created things carry within them the grace and goodness of God – including doggos. And it’s also really cool that sometimes it’s other creations, like pets, that remind us of these things rather than humans. | Estoy segura que Chupi definitivamente intenta absorber la gloriosidad del rayo de sol que da vida, y pienso que esta foto es una linda manera de recordarnos que todo lo creado lleva consigo la gracia y voluntad de Dios – incluyendo los perros. Y la gran cosa es que a veces sus otras creaciones, como mascotas, nos recuerdan de estas cosas y no solo humanos. |
| The OTHER thing I’d like to share today is this nice little song that reminds Christians that it’s good to say you love God, but “you don’t love God if you don’t love your neighbor” AND love your neighbor every DAY, not just every Sunday, or every Easter Sunday. I was going to put up the Rhonda Vincent version (which is great and you should look it up) but there wasn’t a video of her singing it live, so after church Javi recorded me and my dad singing it really quick. You’ll have to forgive us for reading the lyrics! It’s actually a GREAT (and pretty funny) song, so I encourage you to take a listen even if you aren’t a Christian – you might find yourself laughing a little. I posted the lyrics below. | La OTRA cosas que me gustaria compratir hoy es una cancion que recuerda a los Cristianos que es bueno decir que amas a Dios, pero “no amas a Dios si no amas a tu vecino” y ama a tu vecino todos los dias, no solo los Domingos, o en Pascua. Iba a poner la version de Rhonda Vincent (la cual es genial y deberia darle un vistazo) pero no era un video de ella cantando en vivo, asi que despues de la iglesia Javi me grabo junto a mi papa cantando la cancion. Tienen que perdonarnos por leer las letras! En verdad es una cancion GENIAL (y comica), asi que les recomiendo que lo vean incluso si no son cristianos – puede que se encuentren riendo un poco. Puse la letra de la cancion un poco mas abajo. |
There are many people who will say they’re Christians
And they live like Christians on the Sabbath day
But come Monday morning ’til the coming Sunday
They will fight their neighbour all along the way
Chorus:
Oh you don’t love God if you don’t love your neighbour
If you gossip about him, if you never have mercy
If he gets into trouble and you don’t try to help him
Then you don’t love your neighbour and you don’t love GodIn the Holy Bible in the book of Matthew
Read the eighteenth chapter in the twenty-first verse
Jesus plainly tells us that we must have mercy
There’s a special warning in the thirty-fifth verseThere’s a God almighty and you’ve got to love Him
If you want salvation and a home on high
If you say you love Him while you hate your neighbour
Then you don’t have religion, you just told a lie
Los Rodriguez Life 
2 responses to “It’s the REAL Easter!”
What a wonderful and touching post! i couldn’t agree more about the ‘Real Easter’!!! its the day of resurrection and the promise of life ever lasting 😉 yaaaay! Happy Easter!
Love that Rhonda Vincent song. Great post!