Easter Weekend

Overall, it was a pretty non-traditional Easter but a pretty exciting weekend overall My family came to town on Friday afternoon, when they arrived they came to the office to pick me up which meant they got to meet many of the people I work with. Friday night we hung out around Hyde Park for a while before they returned to their hotel. Saturday we went to the Field Musuem, got to see Sue(the T-rex) and the Mammoth exhibit-impressive. We spent the afternoon doing some shopping and enjoying the sunshine. While Mom and Grace stayed at the hotel for the night, Dad and I got to see a concert at House of Blues-AMAZING.

Perhaps one of my favorite things about the House of Blues was the ornamentation above the stage. In the middle of the arch above the stage was three sayings-“Unity in Diversity”, “Who do you love?” and “All are one” spreading out from this point were symbols representing several religions of which I could only identify Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Hinduism but several others were also included. The power of the ideas of Blues music being a commonality for these religions was an incredibly visual.

Sunday morning we returned back to the House of Blues for Gospel Sunday Brunch (for Lutherites-Peace Brunch and Gospel Sunday on steroids). We ate a lot of good food and listened to some great Gospel music. Overall it was a really great experience but weird to never proclaim on Easter Sunday-“CHRIST HAS RISEN, HE HAS RISEN INDEED!”

My family left directly from House of Blues and I headed home for the rest of my Easter Sunday plans. Once I got home, I changed clothes and headed to KAM Isaiah Israel-the Jewish Synagogue down the street from me-to hang out in their new urban garden. I was invited to become a part of this congregation’s garden by a woman, Gloria, I meet at the Shared Earth conference at Lutheran School of Theology Chicago. When I arrived I was warmly welcomed by those already present and immediately got to join in the turning and tilling of the Earth. Working together in the garden gave me a chance to interact with people and learn about Judaism in a way I would not have otherwise. Once the produce is harvested they are hoping to donate it to a food pantry that will take fresh produce.

As we finished up our work, Gloria showed me around so I got a chance to see the inside of the sanctuaries(I believe that is the correct term). They have a large sanctuary that they use for special occasion which was magnificent. Entirely made of stone and beautiful-words cannot describe the beauty of the place, nor the humility I felt standing inside. I can only imagine what it must be like to worship in the space. Then I got to see the small sanctuary-which was more simple but still very elegant.

Being in a garden on Easter Sunday was very symbolic. It was in a garden that Jesus was first seen after his Resurrection and upon seeing him Mary first thought Jesus was a gardener. Beyond that, to be working in the dirt helping to transform a dead garden of weeds and dead roots into a place that would be a place of birth and new life.