Rector’s Reflection - May 2025

by Pastor Kristine

Signs of new life are everywhere. Harbor seal pups, newborn fawns, the purple carpet and oh so many other flowers, even the cinnamon butterfly on my chai this week. All reminders that Easter is not just a day, or even a 50-day season of the church, but a fact of life. Death is not THE END. It is an end of something, but not the end of all things. Alleluia!

On Easter we celebrate that there is nothing we can do that can separate us from God’s love. Nothing we can do to stop God from reaching out to us. Nothing we can do that will make God respond to us by seeking revenge rather than inviting us – again – to transformation, to repentance and acceptance of the abundant life God desires for us. 

The first two Sundays after Easter, we hear stories about Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances and interactions with his friends. These are their real opportunities for transformation, as they come to truly believe that Jesus has been raised and that rather than berate them for their failings he encourages them to look ahead and continue doing the work he had taught them to do. Whether they had denied Jesus, whether they ran away in fear, whether they disbelieved the women who found the empty tomb, Jesus came to them in peace and love and reminded them they were empowered.

The remaining Sundays in Easter we see in the Acts of the Apostles the ways Jesus’ disciples used their power to proclaim in word and deed the good news – that God’s love is the power that transforms all kinds of ends into new beginnings. God’s love is always trying to make a way in the world where we see no way.

In this Easter season, may we have the grace to look for new life in all times and places. Not as adherents of “toxic positivity,” or always looking on the bright side, but as practitioners of “tragic optimism,” the recognition that even in the bleakest circumstances we have reason to hope. Wishing you Christ’s peace today and always.