Send your photos for our Visual A*****ia

On a snow-covered April Tuesday, I send warm greetings as we prepare ourselves for Holy Week. Whatever the weather, this Sunday we’ll gather with our palm branches and shouts of praise, recalling the day that Jesus entered Jerusalem. It will also be a Sunday where we let the scriptures speak for themselves, hearing once more the series of events that followed that triumphal entry into the depths.

Some of us may feel like we’re already there. Whether it’s spring’s late arrival, our country’s turmoil, daily demands, or an unexpected crisis, it can be difficult to put one foot in front of the other these days. In some corners, I’ve heard comments to the effect of, “we really need Easter!” In others, it’s more like, “how can we have Easter now?”

Whichever camp we find ourselves in, Easter will be here in a short week and a half. We will resurrect that A-word we’ve been keeping at bay through the Lenten season. We’ll have flowers, and music, and scriptures, and songs that point us to the unbelievable cornerstone of our faith: life has triumphed over death, love over hate, God over all. Whether or not we feel it on the inside (or outside, dear weather) we will have Easter.

It’s a good thing we will, because if we waited for the resurrection to feel authentic to our present moment, we might never celebrate it. Easter offers a challenging invitation: proclaim what seems impossible, and watch it unfold. That’s why, again this year, all are invited to submit photos for a slideshow we’ll play during the service. In this visual A*****ia, each of us will testify to the life and love and God that we see—if only in part—in our present moment. And when strung together, we may come to believe that there’s more rising up than we thought.

Please send any photo submissions to me (pastor@ucu.church) by next Wednesday, April 16. Be sure you have the permission to share the photo, meaning it belongs to you or someone you know, and that you may share on our live stream any faces that appear in them. May our offerings be inspired, creative, and perhaps inclusive of some unexpected elements. For Easter heralds the impossible, that one who was dead is risen indeed.

Pastor Jen