Easter Sunday

The Vibrant energy of church enriched my spirit as I drove from Hacienda Christian Fellowship in La Puente back to Ontario. It was Easter Sunday and you could feel it in the air-the colorful attire of congregation members, radiant peacefulness of the day, little children with their families. I had attended a sermon on the resurrection of Jesus and felt a little uneasy at times, not because I was there as a journalist, because I was there as a non-Christian.

"I’m going to ask you to mingle with strangers for two minutes” said the first speaker. I shook hands, greeting those around me, opening myself to others for the first minute. After that, I clammed up, and went to go sit down. I felt a few tears coming, but held them back. I was thinking how it was harder for me to open myself up to people than it was for others. It was a powerful worship service, as cathartic as church often is-singing, praying, connecting with others, and word of the divine.

“Most of us see death as the point of no return,” Pastor Romero said. He referenced his exposure to various religions as a professor of religion at Mt. SAC. He said that he did not believe in reincarnation, but that the spirit continues after death in one direction or another. He wasn’t like most reverends I had heard before with his use of humor and highly captivating speech. With his sermon, the modern church band, and a visceral theatrical scene of a turbulent marriage salvaged through prayer and love, it was an intense service.

When I arrived at home, the spirit of Easter Sunday was still with me. From my bedroom, I heard my neighbor playing with a puppy. Should I go outside and make a connection with the neighbors? Should I attempt to step over all the pain and unkind words members of that family had caused me in the past? Should I vulnerably extend my hand forward again, hoping that my good intents will finally meet good ends? My neighbor’s girlfriend was there, so I hesitantly glanced in their yard. No, not this time. I sat down on the porch, warming myself in the sun. I saw the back of her long black hair, and black clothes as she walked around the front of the house.