Easter creek mud cleaned by forgiveness

By Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column

Easter was always a big deal with my family when I was a kid.

As a child, until maybe early teenage years, every Easter, my family would gather together in greater numbers than we would at Christmas. Everyone would come to my parents' or my grandparents' for Easter lunch / dinner. Aunts and Uncles, and cousins that we only saw at birthdays or funerals would come for Easter dinner.

It was tradition for all the kids to go play outside; We would go to the woods and swing across vines and fall into the creek with our new Sunday clothes on. Don’t ask me why – I never figured that out, but it wasn’t truly Easter at the Thompson / McSwain / Hayes gatherings unless the cousins came back inside in muddy, wet, basically haven ruined our Easter Sunday church clothes.

Looking back, it was kinda weird our parents had such short-term memories, but also every year we promised we wouldn’t get messy and every year somebody fell in the river or the creek or in a mud puddle or something. I guess we lied – but maybe we actually believed that this time we really would be careful playing outside in our Easter church clothes. Honestly, I have no idea.

But just like those promises made by children, with good intentions (and broken), falling in a deep creek (like my sister and a couple of my cousins did one time in particular) or somehow someone (or all of us) would end up in the Broad River or whatever, we would be forgiven – just to do it again next year.

Kinda sums up mankind’s relationship with God.

He got so irritated at our faults that he had to send his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life… (John 3:16).

We falter and sway and break our promises, but God never does. He forgives and we are saved by the Blood of Jesus. By his sacrifice and Resurrection, death is defeated.

You’ll still have to pay your power bill, insurance, taxes, and mortgage, but you have Jesus going for you, and with Him there really isn’t anything to fear. God provides a way. It may not be the way you want to go, but it’ll be the way He wants you to go, and that is why we have to trust Him and be thankful, because without Easter, Christmas wouldn’t matter.

Minus the chocolate bunnies, Cadbury eggs and marshmallow peeps, the symbolism of Easter truly is the Holiest of holidays in the Christian faith because without the Crucifixion and The Resurrection there is no forgiveness, there is no salvation, there is no eternal life.

Thank you, Jesus.

Happy Easter. 

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Chuck Thompson is a reporter and columnist for The Shelby Independent.