It is ten pm on Saturday night. I sit on the couch in a darkened room. White lights peak through the window from the outside. We are the rare family that keeps Christmas lights up all year long, for who doesn't need more light in their life?
All day there has been a sense of expectancy in the air, like something big is about to happen. It began this morning as in the middle of a Vesperal Liturgy on Holy Saturday, the music and tone changed from somber to joyful; from dread to expectancy; from death to life. This afternoon, the entire church was alive with energy as vines were wound around pillars and white roses arranged by icons and stands.
In a short time, we will leave for Pascha - the height of the Orthodox calendar where we celebrate Christ's resurrection from the dead, celebrate that he conquered "death by death" and "bestowed life on those in the tomb."
It's like getting ready for a wedding, without the stress of envious bridesmaids and relative angst.
It has been seven weeks of preparation, seven weeks of learning to say yes to something better than what we're saying no to. Seven weeks of a season called Lent
"The strongest man or woman in the world is not nearly strong enough to triumph over his or her sin simply by saying no to it. What we need is the strength-giving grace occasioned by us saying yes to something else, by saying yes, and yes, and yes - ceaselessly - to Someone Else." [The End of Suffering by Scott Cairns]
And tonight we say a final 'yes' to a Resurrection that we believe by faith. A Resurrection that brings life and light, for who doesn't want more light?
