This Friday Is Good

Friends, we’ve made it to Good Friday.

Since officially sheltering in place, this was the first week I started to see a few cracks in my family’s “all is fine” veneer. Nothing big, but you just know when the weight of so many things being up on the air for seven people… in a confined space… just start to take their toll.

That said, our family has been very lucky so far in all of this. We’re healthy. Our jobs have been relatively unaffected and the kids have taken to e-learning much better than I thought they would. I pretty much have to remind myself daily of all that is happening outside the walls of our home.

That’s where I did hit a wall yesterday. I had an Easter post all ready to go about setting a holiday table using what you have at home. But I couldn’t bring myself to publish it because it seemed so hollow with the current state of things as its backdrop. It’s so strange trying to navigate keeping things normal for my crew knowing the realities that are taking place. It’s hard to find the right balance or any solid footing at all.

And then that’s when I remembered today was Good Friday. Holy Week has always been something we’ve taken pretty seriously in our house. In years passed, I would be bummed if spring break fell over Holy Week because it never really felt like the right time to just let loose and have fun. So this week, even without being able to attend the beautiful services typical for this time of year, I’ve tried to use this quiet time to think about all I have to be grateful for, to pray for all of those suffering and sacrificing at this time, as well as the idea that in my rush to get things back to normal, what parts of normal are worth rushing back for?

So rather than writing today about setting a pretty Easter table (which I’m sure I will post pictures of later because there is nothing more fun for me than setting a table), I’m using this space to talk about the importance of us “showing up” for Easter, whatever that means for you and your family. If it’s enjoying an indulgent brunch, or live-streaming Easter mass from the Vatican, or giving to your favorite charity, or hiding Easter eggs all over the yard for your children to find…do it! Show up for this Easter, even if it doesn’t feel quite right because good will come.

This morning, national historian John Meacham was being interviewed on the Today Show about people not feeling their faith this Easter and he told a story about C.S. Lewis.

“C.S. Lewis once wrote a letter to his god daughter who was being confirmed. She told him that she didn’t feel anything, she didn’t feel her faith. So he wrote to her saying ‘It doesn’t matter what you feel. You say the words. You follow the dictates. And by putting yourself in that place, you increase the chances that grace will come.'”

My takeaway from this was the importance of celebrating Easter this year. In spite of all that’s happening, it will be a shared global experience of family and prayer. And through this, the grace we’re all looking for will come.

Have a great Good Friday!

xo,

Photography of Ann Marie by Jenn Marie Photography