Easter always makes me feel a little homesick, and this year the emotion is strong. At first, I thought it was because I miss my dad who is in Heaven. He was the master of epic family egg hunts. Or my mother, who is too many miles away from our new town. She always spread a feast for us, even if it was hotdogs over the bonfire.
Certainly, I miss my siblings, who provided the harmonies when we sang hymns after supper. They share all my Easter memories and have given me two generations of nieces and nephews to love. I wholeheartedly miss the children and the grandchildren who live in a different state and the ones who are in a different nation this spring. Not to mention the friends with whom we invested decades of church life together.
But, I don’t think any of those people are the true reason I feel homesick. I think I’m homesick for Heaven. Or, more precisely, the new Heaven and the new Earth where every tear will be wiped away and all things will be made new.
Easter is such a perfect reminder of that promise. The new life that comes with spring is just a glimpse of what will happen when Jesus returns again like a flash of lightning across the sky. I don’t understand it. I can’t describe it. But I know that I am homesick for a place I’ve never actually been. And that is good news. Because, once we get there, life will be perfect. We will have all the time of eternity to sing together. And nobody will ever have to leave again.
In the meantime, I’m pushing past the homesickness and celebrating Easter here on Earth. Mostly, I’m reminding myself of something Moses said.
“Oh God, through all the generations, You have been our home.” Psalm 90:1
Happy Easter