Dear Reader:

I remember Grandmother Wilson always describing Easter Sunday as “Joyful Sorrow” while clasping her hands together, closing her eyes and saying a silent prayer. As a small child I never understood this seemingly contradictory description…so I would just nod my head and say nothing. At the age I was… my mind was more on the Easter Bunny and what new dress he would bring me to wear to church.

Today I recognize that Grandmother’s description of Easter was the perfect oxymoron for the occasion!

In fact…the longer I live the more aware I am that life is filled with oxymorons…nothing is exactly as it seems or using an oxymoron…(A contradiction in terms) the “same difference.”

Ponder these examples of oxymorons that we could all fill in the Holy Week stories leading up to Easter and the Resurrection!

“Deafening silence” “Amazingly awful” “Painfully beautiful” “Small crowd”

…And my favorite…”Farewell Reception”….what an original way to describe the death and resurrection of Jesus…all his followers, friends, and family sorrowfully bid him farewell on Good Friday and His reception appearance on Easter Sunday!

This past week was a noisy one….every neighbor on the street, the neighborhood…even the town were outside cutting grass, weed-eating, planting flowers, hosing off pollen…it is the same every year….it is as if we intuitively want our little piece of the universe to be beautiful in honor of the greatest sacrifice ever made for mankind.

*That is why I washed all the bottles on the bottle tree and added a wooden cross for this special Easter Sunday…just having all the family together again is the greatest gift …one that will never be taken lightly again!

So until tomorrow…my last oxymorons…”In death…there is life”…and this Easter Sunday “Never forget…we are always “alone together.” Blessings to all on this holiest of days!

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

Easter Beauty in Simplicity