Easter Sunday

What a GLORIOUS day here for Easter Sunday!

At 6am there was a sunrise service out on the flightline to celebrate the Lord's resurrection. Probably 100 people gathered in rows of folding chairs to sing and listen to the Chaplain preach as the sun crested over the mountain tops in the distance. We were positioned in front of the West flightline firestation facing due East. a 2x4 cross stood at the front of the audience on the pavement where we shared our service with several other parked aircraft on the ramp. The sun gleamed through the purple cloth that was draped over the arms of the cross which made it glow. Behind that, were parked the Marine EA-6s and CJ-130s sitting quietly before their next missions. Off to the right and in the near distance, the orange ATCALS radar antenna made its repeated revolutions. Several times during the service a helicopter or aircraft engine would drown out the music or voices up front, but they would pass shortly and the program would quickly resume. In the distance were the taxiways and runway with just a trickle of traffic passing along its pavement. And beyond that were the mountains that surround us here at our base, silloutted by the backlight of the sun and hazy from the dust in the air. The sky was blue and clear; it was going to be a beautiful day... as I find the Lord blesses each Easter year after year with his glory. The sun rose as we remembered how the Son rose!

Actually the sunrise service wasn't the start of my day. Each holiday around here is celebrated with some form of a race to run in; today was no exception. The Easter 5k was scheduled for 6am this morning as well, but wanting to participate in both, I made arrangements to run the race early so I could still get to the service. I got up at 5 and started my race around 5:20. That gave me just enough time to grab a sweatshirt and head to the flightline after I was done running.

After the service, I got cleaned up for the day and followed up on some emails and projects. Some frieds of mine were going to the 12:30 Caothlic Mass, so I joined them for another Easter celebration at that time. It was a very different service, but they were celebrating the same resurrection of the same Lord and I enjoyed the different venue.

Finally, after lunch, I had time for a short rest before I needed to go to my regular Sunday evening worship practice and service. Yes another service for my day. All in all, I enjoyed 3 Easter services today and each one had it's own twist and message that made my day a nice joy and relief from the daily grind that I've become accustomed to here at Bagram.