Yesterday, April 7 was the first day of the 7- day Jewish Passover. For Christians today is Easter, a day very much connected with Passover.
The church has had a complicated formula of calculating the date of Easter and various reasons have been suggested for it. For some though, there has always been suspicion that distancing Easter from the Jewish Passover has been the underlying motive.
Nevertheless, the two belong together and again, this year, they fall on the same date.
On a recent PBS program, Jewish families shared memories of Passover celebrations. They shared stories, thus highlighting a very important aspect of Passover. There are stories, beginning with the Exodus and continuing to this day.
For Christians too, the Easter experience is a time of shared stories, as The Very Reverend Ron DelBene, Interim Dean at Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati, powerfully illustrated during the Great Vigil of Easter.
One of those great stories, as DelBene demonstrated, is the experience of facing the raging waters of the Red Sea while fleeing from slavery in Egypt, a picture drawn from Exodus 14:10-31; 15:20-21, the First Lesson of the service. Like the Israelites, we too get terrified and think of going back to Egypt.
But then there are stories of people, just like Moses, who have urged us to dare step into the raging waters. That is the story even today - being courageous to step into the unknown!
Comments and suggestions are welcome.
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