Pâques 2014

Despite their Catholic heritage, the French do not celebrate Easter.

Oh sure, there is chocolate, and they even have the Monday after Easter as a holiday, but it's a day to be with family; maybe.  I shouldn't be surprised, yet I am.  Even the Christians in France often skip church on Easter Sunday in order to spend time with their families - talk about a different mind-set than American "ChrEasters"!

So what did we do for Easter?

We joined 1,000 French-speaking youth at Pâques2014 - a youth conference held over Easter (Pâques, in French) at the Geneva Bible Institute every 4 years for youth from all over France and Switzerland.  We worshiped with 1,500 people on Sunday morning then ate tuna sandwiches for our Easter lunch before cheering for our teammate, Thierry, in a race to raise funds for students' missions trips.

Then we joined some friends (and teammates) for crepes.  It wasn't their Easter tradition; it wasn't our Easter tradition, but it was great to spend time together, as friends, as brothers and sisters in Christ, the risen Lord.

We enjoyed the worship (click here to see a brief 1 minute video), the sunshine, the food, and the company, but it didn't feel like Easter.

But what is it that makes Easter feel like Easter?

Fancy dresses?  Colored eggs?  Maundy Thursday dinners and Good Friday services?  Chocolate?  Peeps?  Baskets full of stuff?  Bunnies?  Ham?  Church at sunrise?  Family?

The cross and an empty tomb.  

Holidays in a new country force us to examine cultural traditions versus true reasons for celebrating, and while this Easter was different than others, it was Easter nonetheless.

He is risen!  He is risen indeed!