Easter Weekend

After coming back from Bali we headed back to campus, a couple days to spare on our break. It was the Easter weekend and we were cuddled in our dorm room, working away, content with air conditioning, and again greeted by the mosque in the mornings. The weekend was full to blog-posting, e-mailing, lesson planning, and talking to people back home, after all - it was Easter! I was a little homesick coming back --we both were. We felt as if we were going through culture-shock all over again. The busy streets, the carbon-monoxide, the frantic grocery stores, and our white-walled room didn't give us much comfort. Sunday morning we attended the Easter morning service. The attendance of the chapel was low as most university students had gone home for the Easter holidays, but we were still thankful they had a service. Without the service, Easter could have passed by without us noticing! Because Indonesia is a predominantly Muslim country, they don't celebrate Easter. There aren't eggs, chocolate, and bunnies everywhere --an interesting cultural outlook on what Americans perceive Easter to be about. The Lord has risen! He has risen indeed!
Thankfully, I was able to talk with my Dad on skype that morning, while he called my mom on the telephone so I could also say hello to her. Then ten minutes later, I got to talk over the computer with my grandparents in Ontario. What a wonderful surprise! It certainly helped my Easter feel a little more like a celebration when I got to speak with my family. It makes me all the more excited to see them again, and join with new family soon as well.
The pastor of the service talked about spring and new life. How in North America, they have a season called spring and it's a time of new birth. That's why we celebrate Easter in the spring. I always knew this connection, but I never thought about what it would be like to be in a different culture where they don't have much for seasons. Understanding "new birth" in Christ isn't used with the metaphor of dying trees having new buds, or a flower coming out in the spring. It was a beautiful reminder of the life given to us, and here, we could say, never dies.

Happy Easter to all! Even if I am a little late, we can still celebrate the fact that we are saved by the blood of Jesus!