Easter reconsidered

The Sanctuary overlooking Seven Hills Park

We've lived at the Sanctuary for six months now. Last December I hadn't thought much about the idea of the Christmas holiday in our home, once a church. Christmas can have such a non-denominational feel to it, and our home became a place for celebrating with family and friends, not for religious worship. Even when I sat quietly, the solitary connection that I sometimes felt in nature--or in church--was never present. However, Easter felt the opposite.

Spring came early to Seattle. In a matter of days it seemed like every flower had bloomed. A daffodil planted outside my door blossomed so quickly that I suspect it was relocated from the hospital room across the street rather than thrown in the trash. The road out-front is lined with cherry trees, the tissue-paper pink flowers floating on the breeze like snow.

Someone knocked on my front door last week to inquire about services, wanting to look around the church. I'm surprised that that still happens. Our building is starting to look like a residence as spring temperatures in the 60s lead to BBQs at Seven Hills Park next door. A Key Lime umbrella tops off my neighbor's roof patio on the southeast corner of the church. The community garden below can barely contain the frenzy of activity as the winter hay is removed and the heirloom tomato stakes go up. Families spread blankets and scattered colored eggs in the park for local kids to collect. My pugs and I sat quietly and took it all in (OK, you're right. Pugs don't ever sit quietly unless they're asleep-- but they dozed off and on in the sun with me).

My studio loft

And, I was filled with the mood that Easter brings, the Easter of my Catholic childhood, the Easter promises of life and hope. The idea of a new start, in a new place, and that little jump your heart makes when its happy and at peace. I find that peace inside our home now, mostly when I'm working or painting in our loft space. The thirty-foot ceiling overhead, and the indirect light from the stained glass window, lends a serenity to the space and makes me feel creative. I've been working on a painting that captures the feeling of spring, if just a little. Both the church space and my personal space seem to belong here, together.