Easter Weekend

As Geneva is a Protestant region in Switzerland we have both Good Friday and Easter Monday of as holidays. I’m not really sure why we get both off because it is a Protestant region, but I have always been told that is the reason. During these four days all I did was eat and go to church – but mainly eat. I ate fondue on Saturday in Gruyere. I ate an amazing Easter dinner on Sunday with colleagues from the Ecumenical Center. I ate quiche in the afternoon on Monday. Then I ate homemade Greek food for dinner. I love food.

I could not have asked for a more perfect weekend. The weather was divine. The food was amazing and it was Easter. Easter is such a wonderful holiday. We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. We celebrate the life that we have been given. We celebrate each other and our community. We celebrate the Spring. We celebrate. I went to church on Friday afternoon for the Good Friday service.

On Saturday I went and spent time in Gruyere. This is an historic old town in the region of Gruyere. (which is also where the cheese comes from). We ate Fondue. We also wandered around the town and went to the cheese factory. The factory itself was a little disappointing as we missed the process of them actually making cheese. The town, however, was perfect. I am so grateful that I am able to spend time here and see this town. Saturday night I went to an Easter Vigil at the Anglican Church here in town. The service was very small. There were more members of the choir than there were parishioners. We only did the first half of the Easter Vigil. We stopped just before the Eucharist. The service was beautiful. I attended the service with two of my friends who are Greek Orthodox. Their Easter is next weekend. I enjoy the openness and ecumenism of my friends here. I really spent some time that night reflecting on being a part of the communion of God; a part of the celebration that God is bringing to this world in the person of Christ.

On Sunday, I spent my morning sleeping and praying and reading and writing in my journal. The morning was so relaxing. I also found the cutest boulangerie (bakery/cafe) near my home. I will take pictures some day and post them. Then I took the F bus with friends, Emma and Mark, to the town just across the border in France to eat dinner at a colleagues’ house. Being properly British, we ate lamb and mint sauce as the main course. However, we also had three other courses, including cheese and dessert! We also had enough wine for everyone. We sat down to eat about 2 pm. At 6 pm we were still sitting at the table. The conversation was great. The food was great. The people were great. I could not have asked for a more perfect way to spend my Easter afternoon. I am so grateful that I was invited to share in the Easter Celebration with them.

Today, Monday, I took it easy. I spent the day playing poker (Texas Hold ‘em) with Emma and Mark again. I won, of course. Emma made a quiche that was out of this world. Then Katerina, an intern from Greece, invited us to her house to have dinner. So we ate Greek food. Such a perfect way to end this weekend.

Tomorrow I will have to go back to work. I will finish my fundraising letter and start doing more serious work on the different publications of WSCF. This weekend I had the luxury of celebrating. I didn’t have to spend any time worrying or thinking or planning. All I had to do was enjoy myself and spend good time with good friends. I think that this is what the resurrection is like for us. There is work to do in this world – but because of the resurrection we can celebrate. We can take time to enjoy the pleasures of this world. We can spend time working to live into being the Kingdom of God. We can do the hard work that is the nature of living in Jesus’ footsteps. We can also celebrate. We can also enjoy. Easter this weekend was wonderful for me. I experienced Easter more outside of church than in church. Through the food and drink that I shared with friends and strangers I saw the goodness that comes from faith.