It's Too Early For Easter ... Or Is It?

 Wednesday, Easter's a few weeks away

Me, I'm quick to say I'm not ready for Easter -- not just yet

Couldn't seem to get into the spirit of the thing

(More than likely I hadn't let the Spirit get into me)

No matter, there it was, Easter would be here soon, too soon

Or so I thought

I said, "Man, I'm just not ready for Easter"

My pastor, he caught me off guard, taught me a lesson  

A brief but timely response

It essentially boiled down to this --

When you're dead, Easter is never too early.

Talk about sobering, man, was he ever on target with that

I was looking for an Easter feeling -- as if there really is just one

So I wasn't quite ready for it to come barging in

Wait a while, a few more weeks, maybe

Strange thing about timing though, it doesn't much pay attention

To what you had planned -- Life just steamrolls right over you

And ready or not, here it comes -- sort of like this Easter

I'm speaking with conviction here

Conviction borne out of a recent experience

Having been, if not steamrolled, at least put flat on my back -- literally

Laying in a hospital bed, waiting to find out if ....

No, you don't even have to ask

I was once again reminded in a very concrete manner 

About how fragile we are, how mortal we are

And how precious life is, what a gift life is

(You bet I caught the "connection -- it was easy to see)

If that's not a big piece of what it means to celebrate Easter 

(Once you dig deep inside words like "salvation and redemption")

Then it's not about anything at all that matters

Ah, but it is, it is and Hallelujah I'm here to say

I believe it all over again

It's a good time to stand in awe of the Miracle

Moving from "being dead as a doornail" to being so full of life                         

 That I wouldn't be surprised if several angels

Were dancing on the head of a pin that morning

While the Father clapped his hands in sheer delight

At what He had pulled off

And brother don't you know when you realize 

You were closer to leaving this planet

Than you care to think about

Had you not listened to that inner voice 

(Hey, pal, "Something's not right here, better check it out")

A voice that I'm pretty darned convinced was of Divine origin

Well, all of a sudden Easter looks different

It's not a bunny or a brightly colored egg or a delicious brunch

Or a new outfit or even a great musical presentation

It's a whole lot more than that

It looks like the brightest hope you could ever imagine

It looks like something so wonderfully impossible 

That it couldn't possibly be true

And yet your heart knows it is

God did a good thing, the best thing

Anyone could ever do

He spit in the "face of death"

And got away with it

For those of us who believe He did

We can too

Yes, for me this year, Easter ...

Feels different and yes ...

Right on time

George Gagliardi, March, 2013