The Easter Lobster

"...rolled the stone away..."

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"Suddenly there was a violent earthquake; an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled the stone away, and sat on it."
(Matthew 28:2)


This past Sunday many Christians celebrated the most important holiday of our year, Easter. Leading up to and during the day there were probably millions of Easter eggs hidden and found during various festivities surrounding the holiday. Eggs and chicks (along with rabbits) have long been symbols of the holiday, representing the new life for us in Jesus' resurrection. The biblical stories in the four gospels relate how the tomb that once held his body was broken open and God's love sprang forth in the resurrected Jesus. It's easy to see how a chick breaking forth from its shell could symbolize this new birth of life in all its possibilities. God's love is so powerful that not even a tomb could hold it.

This Easter during the time with the children that's part of our Sunday service of worship I proposed that we introduce the Easter lobster. Maybe you don't know that at least once a year the lobster splits open its shell, crawls out, and then eats the shell for the rich nutrients it contains. The lobster's growth requires it to "molt" or else it would be trapped in its shell and eventually die from its restrictive constriction. (Just for the record, the lobster claw on the far right is the size we normally eat in a restaurant. I confess, I ate this one. The claw in the middle is one I found on a beach in Maine.)

Seems to me we all need to know there's a way out of some of the "shells" we build that threaten to restrict our lives and maybe even constrict them to the point of death. If we don't know there's a way out, we just might decide to continue with whatever form of unhealthy living got us there in the first place. If there's no way out, why bother -- just give in to it. Enjoy it while you can until the shell starts to smother the very life out of you.

That's a pretty dangerous and distorted form of thinking all too common when we find ourselves enclosed by the shell of addictions, affairs, despair, etc. Easter reminds us there is a way to break out of our shells. God's love can help us do it. There is hope!

I pray that God will help me break shells with Divine Love. How about you? (And oh, by the way, remember to leave an Easter lobster in the family basket with the eggs next Easter.)

Blessings and Peace,
Gary
Pastor, Sand Hill United Methodist Church
Boaz, West Virginia

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