A New Routine, maybe?

We can learn some important things from having Easter earlier than it will ever be again in our
lifetimes; next time it’s March 23rd  will be AD 2160; and next on March 22nd—the earliest
possible date—2285!  (Don’t wait up….)

First, you get reminded what creatures of habit most of us are. We expect things to be “normal,”
whatever that is. We build our routines, whether wanting our dinner the same time everyday, or
keeping certain items in the same place around the house, or any of another zillion familiar little
patterns that help us keep in our zones of safety and comfort.  

Move something big around like Easter, and you start messing around with major forces in our
lives.  The paper said a few weeks ago they were thinking in Rio de Janeiro about permanently
fixing Carnivale to the first weekend in March, cause these early perturbations of the calendar
were bad for business.  Don’t go messin’ with bidness!

Second, this kind of change becomes a wicked reminder of how short our self-discipline really
is.  I know discipline is sort of a dirty word right now, not “correct” at all in some circles.  But
even for those of us who haven’t given up on the concept, a long weekend or a spring break can
spell the crashing end of a Lenten vow or fast or goal.  Sort of like how long my diet plan lasts in
the presence of a well-made tiramisu.  Can anyone spell nanoseconds?  

Third, you find out what counts, what really counts.  So, say, spring break starts just before
Easter, with school out Good Friday, and the coast or the mountains or San Tropez beckoning in
the shimmering distance.  So where you gonna be, Easter morning?  

OK, Easter Day—maybe not home, maybe not in your home church… but wherever you are, all
across this precious jewel of a planet, there will be a time and a place and a people to gather
with.  With even the slightest semi-conscious effort, you can join to celebrate the promise and
reality that life is more—MUCH MORE— than a short little routine that keeps us from being
bored until we blink off into a short drop in a dark hole.

Lent is the challenge to know ourselves and our needs.  Easter is the promise that we need not
fear to know ourselves the beloved, eternal, infinitely hope-filled, rescued and precious children
of the Living God.  Jesus Risen is the ultimate reminder of who we really are.  Bought with a
price.  Loved for eternity.  Ready and able to celebrate now and always, because we know the
incredible generosity of the God who has freely given us all the good things we are and have and
shall be.  That’s a routine we should get into!

Frank Fuller+
Rectitudes~~~
   Thoughts for March, 2008