Come, Lord Jesus, come.
My Dear People,
I'll never forget what he said about Easter.
I'll call him Edmond. He and I have been friends for some years now, and one conversation we had, probably nine years ago now, stays with me. Some of the specifics have fallen away, but not the heart of it:
He was a boy, around twelve or so, when, at a town fair, he happened to meet several members of a men's fellowship group from a little Episcopal Church several miles from his home. They were kind to him, and their kindness made an impression on him.
Edmond was a quiet, lonely boy, whose home life was strained. When at home, he spent almost all of his time holed-up in his bedroom, drawing. He loved comic books and his drawing was in that same style, only his stories were more drama and adventure than comedy. He was becoming quite an artist, and his drawing was a great consolation to him. And yet, there was a great melancholy that hung over him, a melancholy that stayed with him, even while absorbed in his colors and stories. However, while he was with those men, even for those few minutes that they chatted, and even simply by thinking of them, Edmond felt that melancholy lift.
Pretty soon he was regularly making the several-miles-long walk from his house to the church, for one thing or another, a cook-out or a worship service. He felt himself drawn there. And, at unexpected moments, he would feel a peace coming over him, a peace that he had never known before. It would rise up in him while walking to the church, or while coming home; or while lying in bed at night. He had found something in the fellowship of that church that he had never known before.
One night as he lay in bed, childhood memories that had been locked-away came flooding back into his consciousness. As he lay back, looking upward, he said it was like watching a movie of his entire life, most of which, though he had not realized it, he had forgotten altogether. A healing was underway. And he felt a joy he had never known.
And this is what he said: "That Easter, Christ rose in my life."
What is the Resurrection that Christ would bring to your life this Easter?
Come, Lord Jesus, come.
Your brother in Christ,
Wallace+
