"I hear the quiet, gentle voice of resurrection"
Easter essays, prayers, & 12 easy ways to celebrate the whole season with your family
This week on Mothering Spirit
Kimberly Knowle-Zeller offers a perfect prayer for the Easter season—what resurrection and hope mean in the midst of grief and violence:
Spring seems especially brilliant this year,
as does Easter’s promise of resurrection.
Perhaps, though, I’m attuned to it differently.
More alert.
More awake.
More present.
Or maybe the darkness,
death,
violence,
and grief has been much too prevalent…The world is being reawakened,
as is my soul
from the darkness of winter,
the weeks of sickness,
the worry for friends and family,
the fear of death.
I am ready,
to be astonished and surprised,
By the beauty of a growing plant.
To have my senses awakened,
to turn towards hope in all matters.
Read the whole prayer here: Easter Prayer.
Did you know the Easter season runs for 50 days? Check out our list of 12 easy, creative ways to keep celebrating the joy of the resurrection—for yourself or with your kids. Check out ideas like these:
Take a walk with your family
Light a white candle on your dinner table
Sing extra Alleluias
Do spring cleaning with others in mind
Find all 12 ideas here: How to Celebrate the Easter Season with Your Family.
An extra prayer for you
Inspired by this recent essay from
on caregiving in the “sandwich generation” between children and parents, reader Roisin Pye shared a prayer with us:Dear Jesus,
I think of your 40 days in the wilderness and I’m rather tempted by that silence and space. Right after the recent child illness, I wanted to be on a sunny beach rather than dodging the Dublin rain. The peace, the simplicity, pared-back space. Quiet. Waves lapping.
The phone pings, I haul my sore back from the car.
God-in-the-mess of managing multiple appointments for elderly and youthful, endless paperwork, permission slips and pet food, do you know how the juggling feels?? And the relief a hot water bottle brings?
I have my mother’s image in my eye, her delight at a particular cloud, her interest in my youngest slipping stitches in her knitting. The juggling holds all this, allows it unfold. Sometimes it unravels, tears fall, steps falter.
I think of the woman touching the hem of your cloak in the midst of the crowd, in the buzz of noise and movement, you were aware of her right away. I know I am seen (and held, and healed) too.
In the snatched moment of coffee in fresh morning air, in the joyous moment of art at the table, in the teenage tag-game that plays out on a family walk, these love-glimpses sustain and console.
All will be well, and may all manner of things be well.
Amen.
From Roisin, mum of four children (ages 17-8), carer to mother (87) living independently in Dublin hills, Ireland.
For more on living out Easter
Katie Cassady explores how parenting reflects the paschal mystery of Christ’s dying and rising in her essay on The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Caregiving.
“The shadow of depression lingers from time to time, but where there’s a shadow, there’s always light. And maybe this dance of motherhood requires eyes of faith, believing God is the same in the dark as He is in the light. Maybe it is in the wrestling between death and resurrection where the best work is done.”
on Waiting for Resurrection: Depression and Pregnancy.Remember the Resurrection Eggs we shared in our Easter gift guide? Tracy Smith at
created a “redeemed and redone” version that’s less violent for kids and celebrates the bigger picture of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Bookmark hers for next year to add to your set—or create your own with plastic eggs you already have (don’t we all have too many underfoot right now?).“Our grief and uncertainty are no match for the Cross. I rest in that truth while I still wait for answers to my prayers, for my family to put down roots someplace stable, and for our Resurrection Sunday to come.”
in Lingering on Saturday: As A Hen Gathers Her Brood.Want to write for us?
We’re looking for short prayers on the following topics related to upcoming essays. Let us know if any of these themes speak to you?
Wrestling with faith doubts while raising kids - due 4/11
Parenting kids with disabilities - due 4/15
Cultivating your own interests (art, activism, gardening, music, fitness, etc.) while parenting - due 4/18
Original prayers are accepted (previously published on your social media, blog, or other personal site are fine). We’ll give you full credit and copyright, and tag you on our social media when we publish. You can respond here with your prayer(s) or email them to newsletter@motheringspirit.com.
Substack Spotlight
This week we’re delighted to feature from Annelise Roberts:
Having spent most of my life trying to keep the categories of my life neatly contained, I'm now learning to live an embodied life of faith. I write about what it looks like to find God in the mundane, “learning to love what must be done,” the challenges of parenting children while tending to our own needs, and the myriad ways God uses our ordinary lives to communicate spiritual truths. I am relentlessly curious, but learning to make peace with the unknowable. Most of my essays are drafted under a sleeping child, and I do my best thinking while scrubbing something.
Popular Posts from
“Babies, Bathtubs and Emmanuel”— A reflection on attachment, co-regulation and the profound beauty of God being with us in our distress.
“I can't write” — In which I wrestle with resistance, wonder why art still matters, and admit that the reason I write is because when I try to stop, I write about that too.
“On foolish obedience” — A story about birth, trust, trauma, and God's faithfulness.
Want to feature your Substack newsletter here to have it reach more readers? Contact laura@motheringspirit.com for more information.
If you like what you read at Mothering Spirit, we’d love if you’d share this Substack with a friend who needs encouragement in parenting—or a place to pray in the midst of busy days. Thank you for supporting our writers by sharing their work, following us on Instagram or Facebook, or supporting us on Patreon.
This post contains affiliate links.
Roisin, every word of that prayer was exactly what I needed today. Thank you for sharing. (From a fellow juggling mum, dodging the Belfast rain 🙃) xx