Easter arrived April 16th, and as usual, some of us went to Good Harbor Beach for the ecumenical Easter sunrise service. It was a balmy peaceful dawn, and none of us could remember a warmer one. We didn’t even need jackets. The peace of the morning stayed with us for our festive Eucharist at 10:00 a.m. It was a joyful beautiful celebration of our Lord’s resurrection, graced by beautiful music from our choir, organist, and guest musicians Michael Milnarik on tuba, and his wife, composer/pianist Sanae Kanda. The children decorated the altar with flowers, and hunted for eggs in the playground afterwards. For some reason, the lovely peace of Easter has stayed with us, and though so much tumult is around us, we can still breathe in the peace of God. We celebrated the second Sunday of Easter with a baptism, and we’ll celebrate another baptism tomorrow, on the third Sunday. Spring has finally come to Cape Ann with Eastertide; beauty is everywhere, life-giving, soul-refreshing, and spirit-renewing. Last Sunday, we heard about the Easter evening appearance of Jesus to the disciples on the first day of the Resurrection: he breathed peace upon them, and said “receive the Holy Spirit.” And he told the disciples: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” (John 20:19-23). May the breath of the Holy Spirit renew you and fill you, as a freshening wind from the sea. Happy Easter! For Fifty Days!