Christ is risen! Chris is risen indeed! Alleluia!

That’s our worship greeting throughout the Easter season. Wait? What? Easter has a “season”? I thought it was just one day. Well, no. For churches following the church year, Easter is 50 days, ending with Pentecost .

For many, Easter is confined to just few days. But why not focus on and celebrate the most incredible event in human history – Jesus’ resurrection – for as long as you can?

As I write this, we are halfway through the Easter season. When you read this, we’ll be nearing season’s end. One thing I focus on in Easter is places of resurrection promise. No, I haven’t met the resurrected Jesus in the garden ( Jn. 20) or behind locked doors ( Jn. 20), or on the road (Lk. 24), or even at my favorite fishing hole ( Jn. 21). But I do see and remember amazing resurrection signs. I share a few with you so you might continue to celebrate Easter.

A friend had a freaky “accident” awhile back. She was Christmas dinner shopping when she cut her thumb on something. She washed it and forgot about it. On Christmas Eve night, she felt so sick she couldn’t attend her kids’ play at church. On Christmas Day, she went to the ER and was sent home. That night she was rushed back to the ER nearly unconscious. Her condition worsened without a definite diagnosis. To keep her alive, doctors told her husband she would need a drug that would basically shut down her extremities to keep her core alive. During a semi- conscious moment, together they decided to do that. To shorten the story, the doctors discovered a treatable infection. As side effects to the medicine, all four of her limps were comprised and ended up amputated to some degree. By the end of January, she was alive and recovering. If you didn’t know her story, you would think her life was storybook. In telling her resurrection story, she would remark: “I knew I was dying and couldn’t stop it. So, on that hospital bed hooked up to numerous machines, I prayed. I told God that if God wanted me to live, I would fight. I heard a ‘ yes’ and started fighting. I’m here today because Jesus told me yes.”

Another friend battled addiction. His second child had recently been born. At his mothers’ urging, he went to see her congregation’s pastor to ask about baptizing his daughter. The pastor asked a simple question – why do you want her baptized? ( Yes, in our tradition we baptized babies.) That question made him realize he wanted to be there for his kids. The day of her baptism, he went from the church to a 12- step meeting. A few days after you see this, he will receive his coin for 27 years clean and sober. He is a passionate and compassionate man of God who lives his faith out loud and walks with others battling addiction.

Not all resurrections are so dramatic. I see it in the eyes of preschoolers in our building when they “get” that day’s teaching. In read it in posts of proud parents as their kids do amazing things. I saw it in a small statue left for me as a thank you gift for a very small act of kindness. I hear it in the prayer of one nearing end of life. I see it in spring flowers, even yellow dandelions. I see it in you – for God is still about bringing resurrection life today. Happy Easter!