Easter

A drawing that barely relates at all to what I am about to write.

I just like drawing Easter bunnies.

It may not come as a surprise to you that I cry during movies. I don't really try to hide it - the heroes in the epic Greek poems cried a lot and I consider them some of the manliest men ever. So I know it's ok. But I do find it surprising when I cry, because it's incredibly specific moment: the renewal moment. I have such a longing for the part of the story when all things are set right again, and when I see it on screen it just breaks me. When Miguel awakens Coco's memory of her father. When Simba restores balance to the pridelands. When Kubo forgives his grandfather and gives him a new identity. These are the moments that make me weep. The world is so broken, the shadows are so deep - but it will not be this way forever. And that is something worth remembering and experiencing. 

In a small way, this process of renewal is a reason why I do art. In the act of creation, artists take a space and gift it with new order and life. In this way, the best artists are redeemers of paint and canvas. That's why a well-executed drawing of a goblin or dragon is can still be an act of worship - the artist is bestowing order and beauty to even a small area of our broken world. This is really a topic for another day, and I hope to discuss it here with you soon :)

Back to the topic of this post - I've noticed with no small degree of sadness that over the past couple years nearly every holiday that I enjoyed as a kid has become less special in my heart. They always seem to come and go quickly and when they do come, they don't seem as "holy" and set apart as they used to. But for some reason Easter this year seemed much more special than it has in the past. I was so excited for Easter to come. It may be because I took Lent more seriously this year. It may be because Easter and spring came very late. But in addition to these reasons, I think it's because as I get older I long more for the kind of renewal and new-life that Easter celebrates, remembers, and looks forward to. The life that burst forth when Christ rose from the grave and that will be brought to the whole earth when He returns. The fact that chaos and brokenness will end someday. As they say in The Green Ember when things are terribly awful, "It will not be so in the Mended Woods." 

And the incredible thing about all this is that it's a promise. To use the words of Andrew Peterson's song that really brought this whole idea home to me:

Does our God intend to dwell again with us? He does.

The king is coming home.
And He is risen.
-dh