Church President
It was not in our nature to trundle off with four young kids in tow, lawn chairs in hand, to sit outdoors, at dawn, with strangers. Somehow, we were lured away from the warmth of a comfortable campsite, at an hour better suited for economy of movement. We would eventually find a spot under a canopy of cottonwoods, which served as the natural cathedral for a gathering of like-minded campers. Together, with a quiet joy we celebrated at an Easter Sunrise Service, advertised as it was on a flyer pinned to the bulletin board of the ranger’s kiosk.
On reflection years after the fact, I realize that we took so much for granted that morning. We sat and breathed in the peace of a quiet dawn with hardly an acknowledgment. The striking purple, yellow and orange hues of a postcard perfect Arizona daybreak might have gone unnoticed, but for its serving to backlight wispy seeds of the nearby cottonwoods floating in front of us like snowflakes.
That we were together at that moment, at that place, free to enjoy life as a family, in good health and without threat of cell phone or fax machine, perhaps only served to feed our sense of entitlement. And to think that on top of all these blessings
big and small, noticed or unnoticed, our Father gave His only son for the forgiveness of our own sins there are times when I am reminded of how unworthy we might be, and in the heat of some I-can-do-it-myself impatience, surely are.
It is a good thing, as a family friend recently noted, that church is for sinners. We can take comfort in the grace-laden arms of a forgiving God. We can still be thankful for yesterday’s dawn. We can be grateful for the sunrises to come. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed.
Happy Easter to you and your family.
Gary Bague