What Happened to the Lilies?

The following post was submitted by Diane Cooper, Director of KIT for Downtown Church. There’s nothing quite like an Easter Lily to cause a sinus headache.  I found this out while driving a short, ten-mile route from the nursery to church with a van full of the celebratory blossoms in tow. Even so, it is totally worth the price to have them. They are a must at any reputable Easter service. The Easter Lily is pure and glorious, just like Easter morning. That’s part of what draws the crowds of worshippers...the purity and the glory.

Then comes the week after. What happens to all those lilies?  Some have been taken to grandmothers or aunts, to relatives in nursing homes, and to other people in need of Easter love. But seriously, that’s a lot of lilies.  We go from seeing lilies everywhere to nothin’. All that glory and purity is gone in a flash. We go back to business as usual, tucking the celebration somewhere in our memory store until the next big Jesus season, where the lilies are replaced with poinsettias.

We are missing something when we do this. We are missing the good, no, the great news that Easter brought to us. The news that the resurrection is permanent, ongoing, eternal, and life-giving every day for every person from now until forever. The lilies will live on every day, if kept in your consciousness.