Easter has come, but it’s not gone! The meaning of this incredible event includes a life-renewing invitation, perhaps directed at those of us who are fully vaccinated: “Can you come out to play?”
Given all that we’ve been through this past year, “play” may seem like too strong a word for how we might live now. Fun and frivolity may feel like empty-headed avoidance of reality. Over this past year, we’ve learned how to be solitary beings, wary of a disease that has stalked us incessantly. And don’t we have more important things to do now than just play?
There are strong reasons for a different point-of-view, though. The weight of death is off our shoulders and souls. What seemed impossible—from death to life—has happened and will happen again. Because Jesus arose, so can we.
“Play” can be a holy word—one way of responding to God’s grace and blessings. Just a bit beyond joyfulness but not yet invoking hilarity, playfulness puts our most positive feelings into action. We play best when we’re with other people, sharing enjoyable circumstances and activities. In play we invoke our imaginations to create new possibilities for life. Play is an equalizer—of spirits, worth, capabilities, belonging. Our well-being can depend on play.
Because an increasing number of us are now fully vaccinated, we can be among the first to come out of our sequestered lives. Because we still harbor playful spirits inside our graying heads, we might be able to call out the same inclination in others who are slowly emerging from their own cocoons or caves.
Once we come out of our homes, our worries, our blue funks, we can be part of Easter’s message: Life trumps death, love sidesteps hate, joy comes from God.
Christ is arisen!
