Ellie Holcomb Instagram – Did you know that there is an ancient medieval tradition called the Easter Laugh? My friend, @taylorleon, told me about it today. This is what she said, “ Easter Monday holds the additional distinction of being referred to by some as Risus Paschalis—Easter Laugh. Early orthodox communities began a tradition of gathering on the Monday following Resurrection Sunday to tell jokes as a way of marking Easter as the ultimate joke God played on Satan by defeating death with life.” I love this so much. In the anglican Easter Vigil liturgy, it says, “Hell grasped a corpse, and met the face of God.” I love the wild reversal that death is overcome by LIFE AND LOVE in the Easter story, and I’m smiling wide at the comfort that brings me. It has been a heavy season for us, our family, and our people in Nashville. March reminds us of a tornado that tore through our neighborhood leaving destruction in its wake 4 years ago, cancer is a thief, and at the end of this month, we remembered that a year has passed since the tragic day at The Covenant School. We wait and hope and long for change. It is heavy. It is hard, AND , I am also here to bear witness to the way that I have found treasures in the dark. There have been so many mercies, so many stories of provision and healing, and friendships born even in the midst of deep grief. It doesn’t take the sting of death away right now, but Easter and Spring sing the song that death never has that final word. Life does. Love does. It’s a mysterious backwards and upside down kingdom economy, and it allows us to “laugh with relief for all eternity” as @annvoskamp puts it . Jesus is our treasure in the dark. He descended to the depths of hell, and walked out of the grave to remind us that Love always makes a way , even in the depths of our ache and pain. We’ll never walk alone.” If it’s not ok, it’s not the end,” as my friend @sandramckracken says . I hope you’ll sing this beautiful promise with me today and I pray that God will give us eyes to see the treasure hidden in the dark. #memorymondays #fightingwords #scripture #bibleverses #verseoftheday #inspiration #devotional #ellieholcomb