Easter is such a pivotal time in the Church calendar. In fact, to even say that is a gross understatement! Tom Wright, a New Testament and Early Church Scholar, puts it this way in Surprised by Hope: “Take away the stories of Jesus’s birth, and you lose only two chapters of Matthew and two of Luke. Take away the resurrection, and you lose the entire New Testament and most of the second-century fathers as well.”
UNVEILED AUTUMN 2019
Many of our denominational cousins do prepare themselves well for Easter. Many higher church traditions than our own will observe Lent, a period of forty days that leads up to
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Yet, for most of us, our preparations for Easter pale in comparison to our preparations for Christmas. I know that in my house, the decorations and tree go up as soon as possible. I get accused of scroogy grinch-ness when I suggest that we wait until it’s at least December! However, when we turn the calendar a few pages over, we pay almost no attention to the lead up to the most crucial point in our Christian year. Sadly, the people most prepared for Easter are the supermarkets: they’ve got hot cross buns out by New Year’s Day!