Funny what can flash through your mind while the organist plays a verse of "Jesus Christ is Risen Today," as a warm up. Standing in the middle of a pile of Lutherans, I'm sure there were some family members, some guests among us who didn't know it...but not many. About 40 years of singing that hymn, in so many places.
I remember the first years I sang that song -- always the same opening song at St. Mark's in Jefferson. I know there were other Easter hymns in the red book, the green book and now another red book, but I can't imagine that church ever finding another opening hymn. I remember dressing the altar at Sunrise Service, and breakfasts in the church basement. An unforgettable Sunday with a handful of us high school brass players, playing "Jesus Christ Is Risen Today." I put myself back there, in the pew on the left side, just across from the entrance with family, as I first understood "Jesus is Risen."
Then there were those sweet Sundays in Sedona, when Pastor Knutzen encouraged us to ring bells, to jingle keys, whatever joyful noises we could make on the "Alleluias." Mostly sunny Easter Sundays, but a few with light dustings of snow on the red rocks. Michael's first Easters there with a handful of other little boys and girls, and so many adopted elder relatives. Yes, He is Risen!
And then the Easters at the Cottonwood-Clarkdale Lutheran Mission, soon to become Spirit of Joy. Where did all of the people come from on those Easter mornings? Folding chairs and portable everything in that gym, a couple of lilies, but people came to celebrate. Today they are worshipping in their own courtyard for the first time for Easter Sunrise, and a part of me pauses there. Alleluia! Christ is Risen Indeed!
Years of Easter services, choirs, special Easter music from Jim and Eileen at American Lutheran. Struggling to find a place in even that large sanctuary. The Easter breakfasts from the youth. Apparently, there is a different tune to "Jesus Christ is Risen Today" that I had never heard (by the way -- that version is not even IN the new hymnal!). And something inside me fights to forget the divisions and remember Christ Risen instead.
And now, the final chords of the organ's intro end, and I'm back at Emmanuel. Home. A church full of Lutherans and recently adopted Lutherans. A place where all are welcome at the table, and all can call home. Jesus Christ is Risen Indeed.
