Reflecting on Easter Sunday

My life really doesn't revolve around fashion and makeup and shallowness — I promise! In fact, those things comprise a very small part of my general thoughts and daydreams each day, which is possibly why I chose to blog about them — it's the only time I can really think about/talk about these interests of mine. I spend a lot of time pondering the "what-ifs" in life, along with important things like my career, getting my master's degree, family & friends, the theater community I'm a part of, my faith and even my lovely little pets {at some point I'll talk more about them}. There were many times when I thought about blogging about something different, something more personal... but then I decided that my day-to-day life isn't really interesting enough, not to mention the important people in my life will know about all of the personal things anyway, and the people who don't know... well, they don't know for a reason. *smile* So, even though this blog doesn't focus on very personal matters, I did do some reflecting today that I wanted to share, as I think it will be vital in my growth as a person.

Today is Easter Sunday. I wanted to use a Bible verse as a Facebook status update this morning, so I got out my NRSV Bible (Catholic Edition) and started reading through all of the Easter-related verses at the end of each Gospel. I found my verse for Facebook, and decided to keep reading through. It was then that I discovered some fantastic Bible verses that really hit home for me — they were very much applicable to my life, and I realized how much of the Bible I haven't read before. I attended AWANAS when I was younger, went to church every Sunday {at a Protestant church} until I was a teenager, and converted to Catholicism when I was 20 years old — so the Bible isn't something that's foreign to me. But even after memorizing numerous verses and studying the "popular" passages, I realized I never reflected on many of those passages, and there was so much I had never read at all. At that moment, I felt a deep desire to read everything, and not just read it, but think critically about it and relate it to my own life.

As a Catholic, I know there are daily mass readings available to those who want to follow the daily verses but cannot attend mass every morning. I found the website for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), which has an entire section devoted to daily Bible readings, shown clearly on an organized calendar. I printed out the calendar for the next month, which has readings from about 4-5 different Books of the Bible each day {just a few verses at a time}. I can do that! I've heard if you follow the readings for an entire year, you will have read the entire Bible. What better time to start than Easter Sunday? In making the decision to do these daily readings, I have a renewed sense of faith and determination, feeling motivated by knowing how much this will teach me about my faith and myself. I'm really quite excited to begin something new and something that will be very good for me.

I also signed up for a "Minute Meditation" daily email from the American Catholic website, which basically gives you different things to reflect on each day as it relates to God and spirituality. I know of some friends who receive this email, and have seen them post some really thought-provoking meditations on Facebook. It's just a short email to read each day, and it will give me the opportunity to focus on something outside of the daily craziness that usually consumes my time.

So, on this Easter Sunday, I'm ready to start my new routine and am looking forward to what it will bring to my life. I hope everyone is enjoying this holiday with family and friends, in whatever way you choose to celebrate it. Happy Easter!

Stay Fabulous!