The practice began with a question. “What can we do to share the Easter story with people in our neighborhood?” Mark Grapengater had recently moved to the Hampden Heights neighborhood, but in the Spring of 2020, navigating the early days of the pandemic, a neighborhood gathering on Easter Sunday was unlikely. Mark considered the art installation, Stations in the Street, “I think this is something we can do.”

I co-lead a church that meets in our home. We decided a practical and joyful way we could serve our neighborhood was to sponsor the Easter Egg Hunt. Last year, we chose to hand-deliver an invitation to the egg hunt to every house in the neighborhood. We asked the families in our church to contribute eggs, create a cookie decorating station, and hide over 800 hundred eggs!

Giving flowers is a way to show kindness to your neighbors in your building or on your block, at a nearby retirement center, elementary school, or food bank. It is a practice of sharing beauty and spreading joy.

Wandering is a counter script to the often overly scheduled lives centered around efficiency and productivity. Wandering is a practice that cultivates curiosity, looking to be interrupted by the world around you. When we are willing to wander, we have the possibility of being present to what is around us.

The practice of planting a garden is an embodied way to engage both the people and place where you live. It is a practice of forgiveness and gratitude. It is an invitation to be present and patient. It is an opportunity to slowly walk and see what is growing.

Eastertide is 40 days (50 when combined with Ascensiontide) in the liturgical calendar. It is a season for Christians to contemplate, celebrate, and explore the implications of the resurrection from the dead of Jesus of Nazareth.

Celebration is central to loving people and place. Always be looking for occasions to write notes of congratulations, give gifts in commemoration, and throw parties in celebration. Practice celebration.