Easter Vigilante

A few years back, my much younger brother John made a declaration. Society was cheating Easter out of its due place in the holiday lineup, he claimed.

(This is the same brother who claims that we should have “Citizen’s Good Judgment” laws that allow us to run red lights when there are no cars around.)

Christmas gets a full month of hoopla and sparkle, John pointed out, while the cross and empty grave–the most pivotal point in human history–got a quirky 24 hour spotlight smashed in among tacky pastel eggs and rabbits.

(Point taken.)

Without warning, one year, John decided to change all that. I woke up Easter morning to a wrapped gift with a personal card from John thanking me for the role I had played in his life.

It was wrapped in religious paper, the kind I’ve never seen John buy in his life before or since. (The kind your grandma buys. The kind no guy would be caught dead checking out with.)

The card was made of parchment paper with a foil embossed cross glowing from the center.

Inside was a traditional Easter softball glove.

Yes. A softball glove.

Maybe not what anyone expected to be exchanged that Easter, but I knew why I had received it.

It was John’s own way of saying don’t miss the Resurrection.

What about you? How can you be an Easter vigilante today?