Happy Sunday, Journeyer and for those who honor the holiday, Happy Easter!

As I thought about this week’s post and the upcoming Christian celebration, I thought about how Easter reminds me of all of us, people from all religions and those of non religion.

This morning marks the fifteenth year my family has participated in an Easter Dawn pageant, a reenactment of Jesus’ life from birth to resurrection.

I don’t have a parish, per se, for I believe that I can pray for strength, give thanks, or ask guidance or forgiveness from anywhere and everywhere. Glennon Doyle Melton summed it up best, “The world is my church.”

What began as a way to help out long-time family friends who are devoted to the church that hosts this annual event has become a family tradition for us.

One of the things I love most about this play is that it is performed outside. As we arrive in the pre-dawn minutes, the donkey brays from the trailer he was delivered in, the goat kids bleat, the frosty grass crunches beneath our feet, our exhales craft images onto the air, and as the sun begins its assent over the treeline, birds welcome in the new day with their own song.

Easter is about rebirth and the start of something new.

Every single day we begin something new.

“It’s a good day when I put my feet on the floor,” an elderly person once said to me and then chuckled.

Knowing every day is a fresh start makes me happy.

Some of us have discovered this truth and work hard to stay in the present, minute by minute.

Some of us are still trying to learn this lesson; we stay stuck in the quagmire that is a focus on our flaws, others’ flaws, the universe’s flaws.

Some of us have discovered that we are human, which means we will be tempted again and again to step out of this minute and cruise through the past or into the future with a longing that sometimes holds us hostage from moving forward.

Warren’s and my recently deceased counselor was known for saying, “Be where your feet are.” Last week, I laughed when his voice and those words broke the chains of something past that was creating conflict within.

I was where I can often be found, behind the wheel of one vehicle or another, and so I thought, Nah, I need to be where my ass is.

Honoring my fresh starts and being where my ass is makes me happy.

I screw that part up often. I can fly to another time in my life–past or future–faster that any angel or hummingbird ever could.

I, like so many of us, can dwell on a mistake until it fossilizes itself into my DNA.

I did a bad thing becomes I am bad. We stay stuck in How and Why and When did it begin and…

I always get the joke tomorrow, am a slow reader, or mix metaphors becomes I am slow or stupid or embarrassing.

I hurt someone’s feelings melds into I think I hurt someone’s feelings which melds into I might hurt someone’s feelings until one day we see our self as unkind, unloving, unlovable…

And then one day we are, to ourselves, a bad person.

When we reach this point there is a sort of fall from grace; a loss of respect for ourselves and a feeling of not belonging. Eventually, others will likely view us as we see ourselves…bad, bereft, broken…

This place is like a cold, dark tomb.

But when we focus on the here-and-now, remembering that each moment of each day is a new start, we begin to realize something even more profound, that we are both malleable and worthy.

Living in the present, loving myself, and feeling that I belong makes me happy.

One of the ways we can honor our fresh starts–to reincarnate ourselves–is to forgive.

Christian doctrine teaches us that God forgives us our sins and granted us eternal life through the sacrifice of his only son. Jesus’ resurrection is a symbol of God’s power and his ability to grant eternal life.

Christians hold tight to this dogma that we can forgive because God first forgave us.

Martin Luther King, Jr , whose teachings have been compared to numerous faith-based practices, said “Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.”

Forgiveness is the knowledge that within us exists realms of bad and good, darkness and light, dependence and interdependence

One of the many beautiful things about our human existence is that we can refashion almost anything.

We can turn hate into love, fear into faith, doubt into certitude, and resentment into forgiveness.

[Tweet theme=”basic-white”]These things are the Easter of mortal existence. We are human and we will fall from grace. We are human and can forgive ourselves and others.[/Tweet]

Humanity makes me happy.

A few of the other fleeting moments that fed my happy organ…

A note from one of my students…

Warren is back to work on finishing our master bath!

He and I also took time out to attend a Wine and Design art event.

My yard is coming alive with greening grass, tulip shoots, and more and more violas are popping up in my garden.

I stumbled across a Dan Millman workshop that isn’t too far from my home AND I had the means to attend. If you’re not familiar with Dan, he’s the man who gave us such life-changing resources as Way of the Peaceful Warrior and The Life You Were Born to Live: A Guide to Finding Your Life Purpose.

I am  am nervous that I’ll arrive and the class will be filled with people who are physically, far wiser, and much more zen than I. Yet my excitement for learning more about the Seven Pillars of the Peaceful Warrior far outweighs those anxieties. Inner growth always makes me happy!

Laughter that bubbled up from several different sources.

A four-day break from work!

Time with family.

Big Guy came home from college for the weekend. Beauty and her Beau attended the pageant with us and then came back to the house for our annual Easter basket hunt, to share a meal with Warren’s parents. We made a quick visit to Gavin’s grave before Beauty and Beau left for their second family gathering and Warren and I took Big Guy back to school.

Fave sent me photo and a message to tell me he was thinking of me while baking cupcakes for his and Whirrel’s Easter gathering with friends.

Phone conversations with my mom and my dad capped off a delightful day.

What about you, Journeyer? What moments filled you with awe, joy, or inspiration? Your comments are a part of my daily pleasure! They also leave footprints of joy on our neighbors’ hearts! Share away!

Until we meet again, yours in hope, healing, and happiness,