He Leads Me: Fourth Sunday of Easter
Happy Resurrection Day, friends! Easter Sunday kicks off a seven-week festival in the liturgical calendar known as Eastertide or The Great Fifty Days. I'll be posting daily each day of the Easter Octave and each Sunday following that. May you know new life, peace, and hope today, tomorrow, and forever.
Read all the way to the end of the post for a way you can help us practice resurrection!
LOOK: I Am the Gate, Mark Cazalet - Source
LISTEN: Shepherd, Nashville Life Music, feat. Leeland - Spotify | YouTube w/ lyrics
READ: Nehemiah 9:1-15; Psalm 23; 1 Peter 2:13-25; John 10:1-10
Daily readings for the second week of Eastertide
Monday (5/1) Psalm 41, 52; Psalm 44; Wisdom 1:16-2:11,21-24; Colossians 1:1-14; Luke 6:1-11
Tuesday (5/2) Psalm 45; Psalm 47, 48; Wisdom 3:1-9; Colossians 1:15-23; Luke 6:12-26
Wednesday (5/3) Psalm 119:49-72; Psalm 49; Wisdom 4:16-5:8; Colossians 1:24-2:7; Luke 6:27-38
Thursday (5/4) Psalm 50; Psalm 114, 115; Wisdom 5:9-23; Colossians 2:8-23; Luke 6:39-49
Friday (5/5) Psalm 40, 54; Psalm 51; Wisdom 6:12-23; Colossians 3:1-11; Luke 7:1-17
Saturday (5/6) Psalm 55; Psalm 138, 139:1-23; Wisdom 7:1-14; Colossians 3:12-17; Luke 7:18-35
PRAY: Collect for Fourth Sunday After Easter, the Book of Common Prayer
O God, whose Son Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd of your people: Grant that, when we hear his voice, we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
DO: Send me a photo and caption of yourself practicing resurrection. (email them to me or post and tag me on IG or FB). If you need inspiration, here’s a list of 50 ways to celebrate all 50 days! Choose 1 idea or 50, but whatever you do, do it with gusto!
“We visited three very different churches today in Passau, Germany. Practicing resurrection on the Danube.” - Karen Hutton, CT
“Our Rwanda vision trip is going really well. Walter and Brian have been in the country since last Saturday, and Beth joined us on Wednesday. Today we joined the team from Church of the Redeemer, our fellow Christ Our Hope church in Greensboro, to learn about how a parish in Gahini is using farming to help feed their community and share the Gospel.” - Brian Murphy, Beth Toy, Walter Witter, CT
photo: Beth Toy
photo: Beth Toy
photo: Beth Toy
“It has been a wonderful and full (read crazy-busy but blessed) vision trip to Rwanda. A safari is not a bad way to take a break.” - Brian Murphy, Beth Toy, Walter Witter, CT
“We spent a happy hour repotting succulents and tending to tulip bulbs.” - Amy Willers and Tamara, CT
Now it's your turn! Send me a photo and caption of yourself practicing resurrection!
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Now it's your turn! Send me a photo and caption of yourself practicing resurrection! 〰️
Listen to the Easter portion of Handel's Messiah.
Use a special candle at family meals.
Add a "hallelujah" song (or proclamation) to the grace you say before each meal.
Talk about baptism, retell baptism stories, set out family baptism photographs.
Read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (or the entire Chronicles of Narnia series), preferably out loud, and with children in the room.
Drape crosses and other liturgical art in your house with white or gold ribbons or strips of cloth.
Take a short trip to a beautiful cathedral or prayer garden.
Visit a botanical garden.
Sing and play instruments often (or invite friends over who do).
Plan an evening sing-a-long (maybe the first campfire of the season).
Host a different group of friends for dinner each week during the season.
Go to lunch with a different group of friends after church each Sunday of the season.
Choose a place in your home to hang a visual reminder of resurrection (print, painting, verse).
Keep fresh flowers on the table throughout the season.
Take walks in scenic locations - maybe each Sunday afternoon of the season. Learn how to pray as you walk.
Take a half day off work for a quiet retreat.
Plant a flower garden (or vegetables) as a tactile reminder of Jesus as the vine and ourselves as the branches (Jn. 15:5).
Take a dance class.
Throw a spontaneous dance party in your living room. (Here's 12 dance moves I dare you try!)
Order a butterfly garden kit and watch the miracle of metamorphosis.
Keep a daily gratitude journal to help you pay attention to ordinary signs of life and joy.
Read the Scripture passages recounting Jesus' post-resurrection appearances to his followers. (You can follow the daily lectionary readings listed in my Sunday blog posts.)
Ask God for a renewed joy in the weekly liturgy of Communion.
Take a picnic breakfast to the park (or just the backyard) and read the story of Jesus making breakfast for his disciples (Jn. 21).
Visit a farm or petting zoo where you might see baby animals.
Visit a sheep farm or try to meet a real-life shepherd. Ask them what it means to be a good shepherd.
Start a hobby you've always wanted to pursue.
Pick up an old hobby that used to bring you joy.
Take an art class - drawing, painting, photography, calligraphy, ceramic, sculpting, improv comedy!
Watch a movie that always makes you laugh.
Start music lessons or join a community choir.
Join a local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Search for new veggie recipes.
Plan one or more "sunrise services" for morning prayer, Scripture reading, or just quiet contemplation at a nearby scenic location.
Build a new piece of furniture.
Repair or restore old furniture, appliances, or fixtures in your home (or someone else's). Maybe even repurpose curb-side trash to furniture treasure.
Paint a room in your house with a fresh new color.
Pray for your enemies. Forgive someone who wronged you.
Invite your neighbor over for drinks on the porch.
Bake bread (or try your hand at braiding bread). Give some away.
Ride a bike.
Learn a new game, or re-learn a game from your childhood. (Hopscotch, anyone?)
Make homemade ice cream.
Rent a canoe or kayak for a day.
Learn the names of the trees in your neighborhood.
Adopt a kitten or puppy.
Wash your car by hand.
Write a poem or short story. (Read Wendell Berry's poem for inspiration!)
Go to the park, and swing on the playground. Blow bubbles. Make sidewalk chalk art.
Try a new ethnic food.
On Ascension Day, find a spot outdoors - a park, a hillside, a body of water - someplace where you can see the open sky and clouds, to sit for an hour of meditation on the exaltation of Christ to glory.
Thanks to Living the Christian Year: Time to Inhabit the Story of God by Bobby Gross for some of the ideas above.
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).