Blessed Easter Vigil

Back when I was a participant in Christianity, I had a favorite holiday. It was not one that I came to love when I first started my sojourn through the pantheon of theological possibilities. I began my journey as a Methodist. Methodists are generally speaking kind people, and their churches are milk toast. If you like being treated nicely, you will like being there. They make very few demands upon you, and are appreciative of your presence and input. It's not a bad place to start.

But like any gateway drug, you want more. I found more in an Evangelical setting. It was my private college: A mish mash of faiths where Methodists, Nazarenes, Wesleyans, Free Methodists, American Missionary Church-ers, Salvation Army kids (Sallies), and Disciple of Christ-ers all intermingled. There were even Pentecostals in our midst. And eventually I migrated in their direction. Yes, I was once a member of the Assemblies of God denomination--and No, I didn't "speak in tongues". I liked the emotional high I would get from participating in the worship. I loved the emotional presence of my fellow AG friends. But even the well-grounded and sincere mentorship of a wonderful pastor couldn't overcome the blatant hypocrisy they tolerated or my ultimate need for intellectual integrity. A need that pointed me in the direction of ritual. So like all good things, the pendulum swings...

And before I knew it, I was immersing myself in liturgy. I continued my journey in the Episcopal church. It's a great place to experience ritual through liturgy AND they take anyone into their fold. Nothing scares them. Not even refugees from denominations that make no sense to them at all! And there I learned about Church history in a contextual way that took what I had already experienced in Church as Fellowship and Church as Catharsis to Church as Ritual via Liturgy. I hung my hat there for a long time. I was confirmed at the National Cathedral (and through a comedy of errors--multiple times by multiple bishops!--but that's another story.)

After all of that, I finally realized that as ubiquitous and pernicious as Christianity is in the life and governance of this nation, it simply is just an institution. One way to believe. Nothing special. Yet, there are times when I think back on my participation in this cultural behemoth and hold fond memories. So back to my original sentence. My favorite holiday was Easter. My favorite service: Easter Vigil. Why? I loved the fire, and I loved that moment when you shake those bells for all you're worth and fill the sanctuary with a cacophony of metallic noise!

Blessed Easter Vigil to my Christian friends. Shake those bells!