Hallelujah Time: Easter Friday
When the sun returns
it is hallelujah time,
the swallows tracing an arc
of praise just off our balcony,
the mountains snow-sparkling
in gratitude.
Here is our real life —
a handful of possible peonies
from the market —
the life we always intended,
swallow life threading
the city air with
our weaving joy.
Are we this simple, then,
to sing all day — country songs,
old hymns, camp tunes?
We even believe
the swallows, keeping time.
—Sarah Browning
Happy Resurrection week friends! May you know new life, peace, and hope today, tomorrow, and forever. Easter Sunday kicks off a week in the liturgical calendar known as the Easter Octave and a seven-week festival called Eastertide or The Great Fifty Days.
Read all the way to the bottom to join my photo-a-day challenge for the first week of Eastertide!
LOOK: Flight, Betye Saar - Source
LISTEN: Here Comes the Sun, Eastertide 2023 playlist
READ: Psalm 136; Psalm 118; Daniel 12:1-4,13; 1 Corinthians 15:51-58; John 16:1-15
PRAY: Collect for Easter Friday, the Book of Common Prayer
Almighty Father, who gave your only Son to die for our sins and to rise for our justification: Give us grace so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness, that we may always serve you in pureness of living and truth; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
DO: Share a photo for the photo-a-day festival!
In previous years, we've celebrated the Great 50 Days between Easter Sunday and Pentecost Sunday (aka, Eastertide) with a series I've dubbed Practice Resurrection (after the Wendell Berry poem). It's one of my favorite series all year, and I'm excited to start again. To get the photo-sharing party started, I’ve created an eight-day social media challenge for the first week of Eastertide. Use the prompts as simply or creatively as you’d like, add the hashtag #practiceresurrection2023 and tag me @tamarahillmurphy on IG or @asacramentallife on FB.
Can’t wait to practice resurrection together this week, friends!
Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed!
Tamara
You might also enjoy: 50 Ways to Celebrate the Great 50 Days of Eastertide! Choose 1 idea or 50, but whatever you do, do it with gusto! You can read here for a brief description of the liturgical season of Eastertide, and see previous Eastertide posts here.
*Sunday Scripture readings are taken from Year A of the Book of Common Prayer 2019 (Anglican Church of North America). Daily Scripture readings are taken from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and include both Morning and Evening Psalms (Year 1)