To Err is Human
He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.
Matthew 28:6 ESV
Happy Easter! I know it was yesterday now, but I could not muster enough mental energy to blog last night, nevertheless the sentiment is there.
This past week has been a difficult week emotionally for me. Not for any one reason rather several changes in my life prompting stress.
As it was Easter yesterday, I went to my church’s Easter service. Much like a Christmas Eve service an Easter service holds a special place in my soul. The older I get the more I appreciate the tradition, the reverence, and joy Easter morning, indeed Holy Week gives (and not just due to the helicopter candy drop my church has always done for the kids, lol). Like Christmas Eve, I was once again surprised how moved I was at the sermon. Not because it was an extremely unique sermon (though there were several observations my pastor made that challenged me like never before), but rather the simple truth and reminder.
I’ve recently been reading a book called Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions, by Greg Koukl- and I would highly recommend reading it whether you are a Christian or not. There was a sentence in one of the chapters in which he says, “you are always in control of your side of the conversation,” inspiring really. Frankly, I mention all this as a premise, I am hyper-aware when it comes to choosing my words (though my parents may disagree slightly, lol). During the Christmas season in our culture it seems as if talking about spiritual things is fairly acceptable, and more or less we devote a month for Advent. There is an argument that people are also open to it during the Easter season, yet I’ve noticed a lot less openness, perhaps this is due to only having a Holy Week, and in many cases only a weekend. My Easter service/sermon as I mentioned was not one that I found extremely unique, nevertheless, my pastor made an interesting observation- we as humans fear being forgotten. He developed a quite hearty argument, though I am not going to take the time to repeat it, rather the crux of the argument was that we live in a hypocritical reality in which according to recent polls, 80% of Americans believe in heaven, yet somehow we fear being forgotten.
My inner anthropologist was buzzing with this information. There certainly can be an argument that not everyone’s fear (or perhaps core fear) is being forgotten. Yet, it struck me personally-- I greatly fear being forgotten. A lot of the stress I’ve been dealing with is due to the frustration of bad communication. But in reality, the deeper frustration I am feeling is the fear that my boss(es) have forgotten me. The simple truth is that I am not forgotten, and neither is anyone else. I recently mentioned to a friend that we as humans (and I am certainly guilty of this), put such an emphasis on being a unique individual, yet in reality we aren’t. Not emotionally that is. Yes, no one person is like another, but the thoughts, emotions, and struggles we have are not necessarily ones of uniqueness which is oddly comforting in a way. There is a Latin saying I remember learning in First Form Latin-- “Errare est humanum” – “to err is human.” The errors may be slightly different for me now, than when I was 10, but the sentiment is the same, and this is where grace comes in.
Despite this stressful and philosophical past week, I have had some spring fun, namely my first campfire of the year, weeding and mulching flower beds (mulching is my favorite chore apart from mowing), blowing bubbles with my niece, and baking cupcakes that took me 3 hours!!! All this said, I want to wish you again a Happy Easter, and Happy Spring:)
Cheers!
Per usual here are some pics
they are called "rice eggs"
because they are dyed with
rice)
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