Our church’s Easter program happened. It involved a million details beforehand and then two very long days on Friday and Saturday. In the days leading up to it, I confessed to Jason my attitude problem; I was so sick of thinking about it that the back of my mind was vaguely wondering how I could expose myself to a germ that would just take me out of commission for the weekend.
In the course of this conversation I also mentioned that a lady at the Maundy Thursday service asked me if I was pregnant, to which Jason observed that that probably didn’t help my mood.
No. It did not.
As last week was also our spring break, I took Liz thrifting one day, which is always a mixed bag (pun intended). After trying on a dozen items, I often collect some fun new things to take home, but I also have to endure the vision of items that make me look like an encased sausage.
Nope, not pregnant. I just gave up my abdominal wall years ago in order to bear children and have replaced it with subtle layer upon layer of fat in the many years since. Thanks for bringing it up!
During a brief visit with my sister-in-law, who is slightly older than I but more or less my peer, she lamented Aging sucks as she juggled reading glasses, sunglasses, and vision corrected merely with contact lenses.
| Ada, who is not aged, ready for prom, which took place on Maundy Thursday |
I wryly rejoice that God has already answered this prayer for me from Psalm 39:
O LORD, make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!
We who feel our age, and are constantly reminded of it by fading vision, declining stamina, and impolitic women at church dinners, know we are fleeting. We are hurtling toward our end—a consideration that doesn’t scare me, but rather comforts me in light of the message of Easter.
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead…so also in Christ shall all be made alive…Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:20, 22-23
I imagine aging gets harder the older one gets [although just as there comes a time when people stop carding you when you buy alcohol, surely there comes a time when people stop asking you offhand if you’re pregnant?].
But I can also believe that this is part of God’s plan to prepare His people for heaven. You lose energy, physical resiliency, keenness of senses; eventually more and more loved ones, independence, more and more abilities. Isn’t this God weaning us off of this world and sharpening our gaze toward heaven?
I can also imagine that as maturity deepens, fear fades. Doesn’t there come a time when an aged, infirm saint thinks, What more do I have to lose? All my treasures now are imperishable.
Well, despite knowing these things deep in my soul, and trusting Jesus with my lifespan, it’s still a little embarrassing to do manual labor with teenagers—say, when one is converting a church building to scenes from first-century Jerusalem.
The Easter program we do is called Road to Resurrection. We put in an 8-hour day on Good Friday transforming the church—and thankfully, we had a fantastic set-up crew. I personally was paired with a teenage boy well over six feet tall (not the one pictured with Ada above; a different one), who could tape things to the ceiling without a stepstool. And hauling around boxes that would’ve put my back out of commission for weeks was embarrassingly easy for him.
Saturday was an 11-hour day for me. I arrived early to direct last-minute helpers and get all the props in place, while our director did a quick run-through for the volunteer guides.
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| Maggie, who was VERY excited to put her costume on |
Guests started arriving for the first tour at 10:00. Lizzy was stationed outside, where guests first approached, acting as an animal herder. She welcomed the people and showed them the animals (Pedro the donkey, Nora the sheep, and Wally and Evie the goats).
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| Actually Lizzy stayed with Pedro the whole time, who immediately bonded with her, followed her around the pen, and cried audibly the whole time Lizzy had to be inside for a few minutes. |
Then guests entered and checked in, after which they could explore our first-century marketplace set up in the church lobby. We had artisans working their crafts (pottery, hand-braided rugs, etc) and volunteers in character as shoppers and vendors.
When it was time for their tour to begin, visitors were met by their tour guide, who welcomed them to Jerusalem and took them through the stations. The first stop was the Triumphal Entry, where Caleb was volunteering as a helper. The actors there explained how Jesus had come through on a donkey to enter the city and the people had waved palm branches, because they believe Him to be the Messiah!
Next stop was the Passover room, where guests were told that Jesus was dining “next door,” but they were treated to aspects of a Passover meal, such as haroset, unleavened bread, horseradish, and salty water.
After Jesus had His last Passover meal, however, He was betrayed and arrested. So the tour guide led their guests down to the scary church basement, made even scarier by being set-dressed as a dungeon prison. There they met Barabbas, who explained to them all the bad stuff he’s done and how he deserves and expects his own execution shortly. But then a messenger runs in with the decree that Barabbas is to be set free because Jesus is going to take his place on the cross of execution.
Next the tour went to another somber, dark room, where they were met by a remorseful Roman centurion, who explained that he regrets having had any part in handing Jesus over to be crucified.
After that, the tour guide takes the group to a new room, where they “hide” from the authorities, for fear of being arrested as Jesus-followers. They also sadly “go to sleep” twice (a subtle helper turning the lights off and on to indicate the passage of time). But then! An actor playing Cleopas runs in and excitedly tells the group that he has seen Jesus—alive! Jesus has risen from the dead! Cleopas isn’t afraid anymore, and runs out of the room to tell more people about Jesus’ resurrection.
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| Taking a break behind the scenes |
The last stop for the tour group is the Roadside Diner, where they are served snacks and have a chance to relax, reflect, ask questions, chat, and pick up an invitation to our Easter church service the next day.
After the last tour went through at 4:00, it was a simple matter of re-transforming the building to the present day, after which we were all ready for a good long night’s sleep.
He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
