Right Here And Now
“If I must start somewhere, right here and now is the best place imaginable.” ~ Richelle E. Goodrich
Do you think it’s over? Think again. It’s just beginning.
So many people look to Easter as the finish line. They set their sight on that finish when they begin Lent. On Ash Wednesday they say to themselves in one way or another, “I think I can make it to Easter.” As Lent progresses they might say, “I hope I make it to Easter.” As Lent gets past the half-way mark they might even begin to say, “I’m not sure I’m going to make it.”
But they did. They made it to Easter.
With that realization, they might breath a sigh of relief, congratulate themselves on a job well done, and then look to their lives once again. They may immediately embrace some of the things they have given up. They may look to ways of getting back to their “normal” or “regular” way of life. If they do so, they show that they missed the whole concept of Lent entirely.
Lent was designed to bring us to yesterday, to Easter. But Easter is not the finish line as some might suspect. Easter is a new starting line. Because of the work that we did throughout Lent, because of the sacrifices we made, we should be a new people at Easter. That new person is now challenged to go out and proclaim the Easter story.
Easter is not over. Easter has just begun. Throughout this week — the Octave of Easter — we will proclaim the glory of the resurrection each day. As we proclaim it, we should embrace it and live it. Easter has been entrusted to us. Let us begin. Where? How? Goodrich suggests the perfect place and time: “If I must start somewhere, right here and now is the best place imaginable.”
FAITH ACTION: Make sure to live the reality of Easter today in all that you say and do.