Weekly News | 4.24.26

Did you or did you not hear James Earl Jones’ iconic voice while reading the title of this newsletter? Even as I typed it, I couldn’t help hearing his voice, his particular cadence from The Lion King.

Last week, we considered celebration in the form of thanksgiving. We practice gratitude, we give thanks in the Eucharist. The exuberance of the Kenyan Rite helps us enter into celebratory worship.

But in slower and smaller ways, we are able to enter into quiet celebration through mediation. As we meditate on the resurrection of Jesus, God reveals himself and helps us to remember who we are. The richness of the Resurrection enables an awe of God and bestows dignity upon us.

There are Scriptures we may meditate on, ones where we encounter the risen Jesus like our passage this past Sunday on the road to Emmaus. Consider picking one of the resurrection accounts - Matthew 28, Luke 24, John 20-21 - and letting it guide your prayers and imagination during this season.

During Eastertide, we have an icon hung in our sanctuary. It is an opportunity to meditate on the Resurrection from a different angle. As one Anglican deacon put it:

“Icons in Anglican church usage are generally used as aids to right-thinking in times of prayer:

I look at the icon of the Good Shepherd when I feel my mind wandering, because it reminds me that Jesus is present in the Eucharist, and I should keep my mind focused  on him. The icon itself is not Jesus and has no special power or qualities of its own; it is merely a created thing that aids the worshiper in directing their thoughts and focus in the proper direction rather than letting their mind drift when saying the prayers that they’ve said many times over many weeks.”

Icons are not poorly crafted realistic images. Rather, they symbolically communicate theological realities. As we prayerfully look through the icon, like a window, we are attending to God’s presence.

May God meet us in our celebrations - in our acclamations as well as our meditations - deepening our delight in the Resurrection.

Peace,

Sarah+