For What It’s Worth… A Tale of Two Egg Hunts

While Easter was in late April this year, I am writing this article just two days after that wondrous day of Easter celebration here at
Good Shepherd. I am still caught up in Easter. So I will share with you this Easter memory for you to enjoy …. (By the way, the Season of Easter officially extends
all the way until June 8th this year).
Years ago, when my children … were … well. .. children. I had the pleasure of taking part in two separate Easter egg hunts during the same weekend. At one hunt, all of the eggs were easily found. Their bright shiny shells simply lying in the grass or resting openly on an exterior branch of a low bush. It was a cake walk! Of course, all of the children in this particular hunt were very young so that makes a lot of sense. But then, at the other Easter egg hunt, for older children, the story was completely different. The eggs were very well hidden. So many were actually hard to find! Some eggs were even covered over intentionally so that you have had to lift or move something before they would be revealed.

Historically, the church has sought to look outward at the community around them with the well-documented presumption that there are people out there just laying around who simply need to be found. They (we) have often tried eagerly to “find” God’s people wherever they were. In our 2,000+ year history, sometimes this has taken on the feel of bountiful (eggs all around) and sometimes it has been a much more challenging environment (eggs well hidden). Today, we face a much more challenging hunt than did our parents and grandparents just a decades ago. This is not an excuse … but is reality. People today are harder to access, sitting at home behind the computer,  busying themselves at work and children’s activities, and/or questing for the shiny allure of success. People today are skeptical of organized religion because of all sorts of scandal and greed and personal wounds at the hands of  well (or not) intentioned believers. These people, whom God loves, are like the “well-hidden” variety of eggs which will take more work in order for them to be found.

The good news from this “tale of two egg hunts” is this: at both egg hunts all the eggs were found! Yes, one took longer and there were fewer eggs in the overall hunt but those that could be found … were. So both style egg hunts were a success and the participants of both egg hunts could feel  good about the search whether or not it resulted in a full basket of eggs. I guess really, the only way participants could have botched things up was if they had decided not to look at all! Let us learn from these children of these two different egg hunts.

Blessings,

Your Pastor,

Scott <><