A Few Thoughts- Easter, etc

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was able to enjoy two weeks of Easter- April 12- the same Easter those of you in the Western World enjoyed, and April 19- Easter according to the Orthodox Calendar.

This is not my first time- actually my third time to be overseas during Easter. It's always interesting! Here are a few observations.

My favorite Easter tradition over here is the very common greeting: "Christ is Risen" and the appropriate response, "Indeed He is Risen"...often repeated 3 times. It's much cooler than just saying "Happy Easter"!

Another cool tradition is that Orthodox Christians begin taking baskets of (usually traditional) foods to church on the Saturday night prior to Easter Sunday to be blessed by a Priest- all in preparation for a really big family meal after church on Sunday morning- in many cases, these Christians have observed Lent so "breaking the fast" is a big deal. So all night long you see families going to church together to have their food blessed. I could make an observation about how there's really no need for them to stand in line to do that...that they are a Priesthood of Believers and they can ask the Lord to bless their meal themselves if they want to...but then again...who am I to judge...in the States our baskets are filled with plastic grass, plastic eggs and chocolate bunnies!!!

One thing I have to remind myself of is that there are amazing, committed, solid followers of Jesus within the Eastern, Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox traditions. And there are some that are caught up in a system of rules and traditions and have no concept of a personal relationship with Christ.

Wait a minute... that pretty much describes Christianity back home too doesn't it?

Twice in the past week I've heard or seen a reference to an apparently famous Ukrainian proverb: "Hope Dies Last". At first blush it would seem synonymous with our "Hope Springs Eternal". But as I read about the history of Ukraine and experience the culture more each day, as I observe and hear about the generally fatalistic attitude that people in this part of the world have- I can see that there's a difference in the two proverbs. "Hope Dies Last" seems to me to imply that, though it may be the last thing to go...it can in fact, die. The history of the Ukrainian people, especially in the last century is tragic. During WW1, during post Russian Revolution, WW2 and the Communist years that followed...this country lost more people than any other country in Europe- maybe the world. They've lost hope many times. Pray with me that Jesus, the Hope of Glory, is made known and made famous throughout this land.