An Easter to Remember

It’s Spring Break Week in many communities throughout the state and country. This is a week for travel, fun, and hopefully sunshine and warmer weather.

We in Minnesota, land of not only 10,000 lakes, but a land of frozen lakes, snow, wind and cold, really look forward to this week to escape winters hold on us. Mother Nature played a trick on all of us this year in the frozen north-land by providing us with higher than usual spring time temperatures. Those of us who didn’t get to travel smiled all the way to their lawn chair, sunglasses and a good book.

What a wonderful way to spend mid-March in Minnesota.

A few years ago I had the opportunity to spend a week away from the then cold Minnesota to visit family and friends in Arizona. Many of those Arizona friends are Snowbirds from Woodbury and King of Kings Lutheran Church. It was so much fun visiting with them and learning about their Arizona lifestyle.

While there, I was privileged to attend a special Holy Week concert at their church away from church and even hear some of them singing in the church choir. It was a wonderful experience that I would like to repeat sometime soon.

One of the most memorable experiences I had at that time happened on Easter morning.

My step-son and his wife invited me to attend an Easter Sunrise Service with them. It was very early when we left the house, very dark, and felt almost Minnesota cold. We brought with us jackets, blankets, open minds and willing hearts. After parking the car alongside others in a dark parking lot we found the small path that started our walk up to Sanctuary Cove in the Tucson Mountains. It hadn’t taken us long to reach the place known as All Creeds Chapel.

This very small rustic stone building fit nicely into its corner of the mountain that’s surrounded by cactus of all shapes and sizes. People come to this chapel to meditate and commune with nature, it’s a place devoted to emotional and spiritual fitness.

On this particular morning it was a place to wait in the darkness for the sun to rise. Seated on stone benches facing the Catalina Mountains in the east, we along with 50 others waited for the sun to rise. It arose to the beautiful music of an acoustic guitar played by a Cowboy Poet as the light shifted colors from pinks and reds to oranges and yellows. It was a memorable morning of word, music, and light, a morning that will forever live in my heart. It was an Easter to remember.

This year, local residents have the opportunity to enjoy such an experience in the Woodbury area this Easter. King of Kings will be offering an outdoor Easter Sunrise service starting at 6:30 a.m. This very informal service will be held on the hill overlooking our pond. Remember to dress for the weather, bring your lawn chair and maybe even a blanket.

Whether the sunrise is in Arizona, Woodbury or over the waters of Forest Lake, this sight never ceases to amaze me. Make this Easter one to remember.