The pain of our Good Fridays
still lingers among us.
We still dwell inside the long waiting
of our Holy Saturdays.
Old wounds hold us in calloused hearts.
Ancient histories mold our souls in fear.
New worries drag us toward the abyss of dread.

Yet, Easter comes our way again.
and we are awakened to a new day
of hope and possibility.
Christ is raised.
Life bursts forth again.
Angels sing, creation dances, and the oppressed find their voices.
The poor find reason to hope,
neighbors come together in acts of justice,
and tyrants gather to put down the insurrection.

But Eastered again by your Spirit of life
we dare to trust a different future for all.
Eastered again we open ourselves to possibilities never imagined,
new opportunities we’ve not yet dared to dream.
Eastered again, we pledge ourselves to live Resurrection—
to live unshamed, unfettered by guilt;
to act in boldness, unbounded by our fears;
to love without limits, disloyal to the petty prejudices and uncharitable bigotries that pervade our land.

Christ is risen!
Life has conquered!
Love knows no end!
Hallelujah! Amen.