It was a good Good Friday. But when I realized this afternoon that it was Good Friday I was bothered . It doesn’t feel like the Easter season, although I don’t know what Easter should feel like. There was no Lent for us this year. No extended family coming. No Easter eggs or candy. No dressing the girls up for Sunday morning. No spiritual preparation. It just kind of snuck up on us.

Honesty I never really liked the Easter formalities. Is that bad to say? Give me a burrito over ham and potatoes. As a child I hated dressing up and now I feel bad asking my kids to suffer through that. But I long for the essence of Easter. I’m not talking about the “story” of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. Or angels. Or disciples who ran to find the open tomb. The things that make a good pageant. It just doesn’t connect with me this year.

I don’t mean to minimize the story. But the essence of Easter (or Christmas, or Christianity in general) is an encounter with Christ. In our suffering we have encountered him in a fresh way this year. We didn’t dress up. Or prepare weeks in advance for his arrival. But what a great encounter it has been. He has been faithful to sustain us. He has given us hope and joy in this time, and it could have been quite different.

Happy Easter Encounter.