Tonight K and I met up with our friends S & H to head into the city for Easter. We grabbed dinner in Chinatown, where H's attempt to order a rum & coke was a highlight, and then headed to the Top of the Mark for cocktails. The Top of the Mark is a bar on top of a hotel by the same name on Nob Hill, one of the highest spots in the city, so the view was really nice. It's also a block away from Grace Cathedral, so we had a nice view of it before we headed over for the Easter Vigil.
I'm always a fan of the Easter Vigil. I love the buildup, the drama, the beauty... the whole thing captivates me every year. The entire congregation left their pews to circle around the baptismal font. At the end, we all crowded around the altar, inside the communion rail, for the reading of the classic excerpt from St. John Chrysostom's great Easter sermon, the singing of "Jesus Christ is Risen Today," and the closing blessing. Apparently tomorrow they are going to drop a lot of rose petals, confetti-style, at the conclusion of one of the services. As we gathered around the altar, stray petals drifted down on us, leading us all to expect some sort of big drop as the finale. It never came, so we were left hanging a little, but I really was struck by the ways in which the liturgy both engaged us and put on a fine show. I'll not be joining a cathedral anytime soon (I'm a small-congregation, low church guy for now), but I appreciated the grandeur present on a night like this.
Every year at Easter, I get excited, imagining what it must have been like for the disciples of Christ to discover the empty tomb, what a simultaneously triumphant and unnerving day that must have been for them, the absoulute rawness of their nerves and emotions at the end of such a horrible week. Every time the Gospel is read and I hear the words, "He is not here," I just smile, thinking that this must be the ultimate validation and justification.
The Lord is Risen Indeed.
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