Early morning light ... on cold Sundays

I enjoyed what Steve Van O wrote in the newsletter about the solemn experience of a Maundy Night service. As a young man, and a recent church attendee, I remember the experience of seeing my first Maundy Thursday service. The altar, the pulpit, the cross--everything--was stripped away and laid bare--cold and silent. And then several days later, as I had experienced as a child, I went to the (way too) early Easter sunrise service. In Colorado, the weather was almost always cold--or snowy! The service was performed by the ministerial alliance, at the fairgrounds, and I can still feel the touch of those brutally cold metal bleachers. But, at each of these Easter services, I remember the brilliant warmth and joyous sensation of the sunlight as it finally peeked above the barren trees and the tall buildings. That radiant light of the morning sun grew in strength, and it poured over all of us huddled together, and it reinvigorated our souls. I will always remember the power of the "light" in contrast to the cold barrenness of the darkest nights.