Going Outside

Rejoice!

Here at the ARUSA blog, we’ve done a series or two on waiting, because our two seasons of waiting – Lent and Advent – are important parts of the Christian year. They call us inward, to reflect on the processes of the earth and our roles within them.

However, we haven’t yet done a series on the aftermath of these seasons. These two important holidays, especially Easter, draw us back out into the world with new eyes and hearts. And they beg the question: what now?

This Easter, we have assembled a group of writers to reflect on that “what now?” question. For the next seven weeks of the Easter season, we will be leaning into the implications of resurrection for creation care and the ways we honor and interact with the world around us. We hope that it spurs your own Easter-inspired labors of love, and that you will join the conversation. What is inspiring your Easter creation care?

By Anna Wilde

I’ve been inside a lot this winter. The weather, of course, was the main reason, but taking care of a new baby and a small child, a minor foot injury, and the ongoing cycle of home-based chores that dominate this particular life season have also kept me in. Since our local grocery store started offering online ordering, all I have to do is put the baby in the car and drive up to the door.

Being home-focused is appropriate for this season of life, but there is a price to pay for all that convenience. All the coziness and warmth of home has found me losing touch with the physical, outside world in a number of ways. Emotionally and spiritually, I have been forgetting how to greet strangers and how to be a good neighbor. I also find myself more afraid, forgetting that the world is more than the sum total of heartbreaking news stories. And, physically, I almost forget what the world feels like – the ground under my feet, the rain and snow in my face.

Going out into the world reminds me that people are, on the whole, kind, and they have rich lives that are not reflected in the media, no matter how thoughtful or in-depth the story may be. It also reminds me that the snow is never as cold, and the rain is never as wet, as it seems out the window!

This is what Easter calls us – compels us – to do: to go out into the world and get our hands dirty. To hold the amazing gift of Easter secure inside ourselves, secure enough to give it some fresh air. To greet our neighbors and strangers and create community. And to get outside and care for what we find out there.