Unless we get a little crazy ...

A line from a song so true. Jesus was a little crazy. Broke all laws of society and religion and science.

It really is our only chance to get out alive, overcome the forces that pull us down like an undertow that steals the victory of riding the wave to shore. The envy that robs us of the magic of admiring others and basking in their glory, which can always become our own if we let it.

We kick and hate and tear each other to pieces because the hole is deep and dark and there's no hope of getting out of our prison so we bite and devour and kill our mate for a scrap of moldy bread or cheese.

But we call it a house, a car or a wealthy lifestyle. We think much more of ourselves than we ought and we're blind to the foolish waste of all that is priceless and worth dying for.

I'm tired of wandering this desert and waiting for gratitude and trust to fill my heart with the promised land i'm searching for. but i won't stop.

I find this easter i'm thinking about the countless times life has crucified me and my hopes and dreams. nailed to the cross of shame and disgrace and failure because i wouldn't listen or follow an example. because i dared to take a chance and fall flat on my face.

times when i felt all was surely lost and there was no sense in trying because the moment had passed and the opportunity missed.

the message of the cross and the resurrection? i'm telling my children it goes something like this:

there is no one too wretched who doesn't deserve your kindness and mercy. not even you.

there is nothing in life, no weakness, mistake, failure, no, not even death that you can not come back from.

if you ever choose to follow God and Jesus, leave your pillow at home stuffed full of your pride and insecurity and desire for popularity, jumping ship and casting yourself and your soul on the waters, knowing that life will come back to you manifold and fill your nets so full they'll be too heavy to bring back to shore.

this easter i want to rededicate myself to the dream of living life on the waters, unanchored by desires for stability and wealth. unpolluted by the unbelief that grabs at my faith with desperate drowning hands that pull me under.

i want to tune out the critics and the cynics and the let's just have a picnics and practice what i believe again. without shame or apology.

and that's what easter seems to mean to me this year.