Easter as a Verb

Easter as a noun gives images of bunnies, spring flowers, baskets filled with goodies, and Christian celebrations of the Lord's resurrection, but have you ever thought of easter as a verb? This thought came to me several years ago when I was reading Sue Monk Kidd's book, When the Heart Waits (chapter seven - Incubating the Darkness). 

Apparently, it's not a new idea. After some research I discovered that easter as a verb was used by a few others.

Frederick Buechner in his book, Telling the Truth, wrote, "Who can say when or how it will be that something easters up out of the dimness to remind us of a time before we were born and after we will die?"

And, near the end of a very long poem written "To the happy memory of five Franciscan Nuns exiles by the Falk Laws drowned between midnight and morning of Dec. 7th. 1875," poet Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote in The Wreck of the Deutschland, "Let him easter in us, be a dayspring to the dimness of us. . ."

We all love the hope of spring, especially those of us who live through the cold winter months. But, there would be no spring if there wasn't a winter. Seeds lie dormant in the ground. Buds have been waiting dormant all winter to begin their growth, blossoming from the warmth of the spring sun. To easter is to rise up out of the dimness of those things that are shaded or difficult to see due to darkness. It is out of darkness that eastering happens.

The world began in darkness until God spoke life and light into every galaxy. 

Spring breaks forth after the cold, gray days of winter.

Chicks hatch out of eggs incubated by the warmth of the mother hen. 

Plants shoot up from seeds germinated in fertile ground. 

Tulips (my favorite flower), daffodils, and crocuses announce the beginning of spring after bulbs lie in the dirt over the cold, winter months. 

Life gives birth after 39 weeks of darkness in the womb.

A butterfly slowly emerges after weeks of darkness inside a cocoon.

Spiritual renewal often comes after a dark night of the soul.

Jesus resurrected after three days in a cold, dark tomb. 

Eastering. The act of becoming new. The hope of what is to come. 

As Christians, we live in spiritual darkness until we recognize the light that Jesus offers in his death and resurrection. Then, we are born again, this time spiritually, transformed by the light of His salvation. A rebirth that comes from God. 

Easter is about new life. Transformation. 

 What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!  2 Corinthians 5:17

For in Him we live and move and have our being! (Acts 17:28)

This Easter I celebrate the act of eastering. Christ easters in me. He makes me new. The hope of now, the hope of ever after.