EASTER!!!!!

"For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen ... if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have [physically died] in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have [died physically]. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive ... 'O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?' The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
I Corinthians 15: 3-5, 17-22, 55-57

Had to share this verse for Easter because this morning it was the passage I decided to read at breakfast, and then at church Joey didn't turn to Matthew or John or any of the four Gospels to read the resurrection story.  Nope, he turned to I Corinthians 15!  I was like, "Yessss!" I love this chapter--it's so awesome!  (Technically most Bible passages are pretty awesome in one way or another, but this one is particularly good.)  The Bible study was about how the resurrection of Jesus changes our lives.  It changes our position before God and changes who and what we live for.  I'm so thankful that Jesus rose from the dead . . . that was the day He finished the work!  On Good Friday He defeated sin; on Easter Sunday He defeated death too.  So I am super thankful for Easter because it means I don't have to be a slave to my own mistakes and failures, and I don't have to fear death whenever it comes.

Here is one of my favorite Easter songs, "Jesus Christ is Risen Today."  It is an old hymn.

Today was perfect Easter weather.  Sunny with white puffy clouds, warm and breezy, trees bursting out with white and pink flowers everywhere!  I walked to and from church through the Stadtpark and it was absolutely gorgeous.  In the morning there was hardly anybody, but the afternoon was pretty busy, with barbecues and people out walking, cycling, and canoeing.  A saxophone player was performing at the café on the canal at the east end.  The sound was amplified by the water.  Absolutely perfect . . .  spring days don't get any better than this!

Actually, maybe they do.  I went to the Laieszhalle (Hamburg's concert hall) to hear a performance of "The Four Seasons" by Antonio Vivaldi at 8 pm.  It was in the Kleiner Saal, the smaller concert hall in the rear part of the building.  This hall was more intimate and really nice for the chamber music that was being played.

(Sorry, I am now going to lapse into classical-music-geek mode for a minute.  If you want to be spared the rant, skip down to the next paragraph.) Oh. My. Goodness. It was SUCH A GOOD CONCERT.  The first half of the performance was "The Four Seasons" with three violins, a viola, cello, and bass, and a harpsichord.  There was a guest lead violinist with a big smile and poofy salt-and-pepper hair.  I've always thought it would be really neat to hear Itzhak Perlman play "The Four Seasons" in concert, but when this guy started playing, he was so good that I was more than happy to listen to him and have him not be Perlman. It was like he played with the speed, dexterity, and dynamic energy of Vivaldi himself.  The audience encored him (the clapping went on for probably three minutes) and he played another solo piece, which was slow and really beautiful.  After that everybody got up and I thought it was time to leave, but a girl around my own age came up and asked me if she knew when the rest of the music was coming on.  She said the ticket had mentioned some Spanish music would be played as well.  I looked around and realized that everyone was standing around and talking, but nobody seemed to be leaving.  So I figured I'd better stick around.  Praise the Lord for that girl asking me the question, because if she hadn't, I might have left, and I never would have gotten to hear the second half of the concert!  This part was just as good.  It was the string quintet, minus the guest violinist and the harpsichordist.  They played a Mozart concerto, followed by some gypsy-sounding music and a couple of the "Hungarian Dances" by Brahms!  (There was one empty seat next to me, and I kept thinking, "Indra should have come!  She would have loved this . . . they're playing a bunch of her favorite pieces!")  After that they bowed and went offstage, but the audience encored them so they came out and played another song.  They got encored again after that, so they played another song.  And even after that, they got encored a third time!  It was all such beautiful music, and they were playing together so well.  The lead violinist (who had played second violin during the Vivaldi part) was so smooth and silky in his playing that it sounded like his violin was made of glass.  I didn't want it to end.  When they started their third encore song, I almost leaped in my chair because it was "Por Una Cabeza," the one Carlos Gardel tango that I actually know.  I have a recording of Itzhak Perlman playing it on a movie-music album, and it's really beautiful on violin.  I was so excited that I had a hard time holding still!  (If Itzhak Perlman himself had come out and played the theme from "Schindler's List," I don't think that concert could have been any better.)

It was a beautiful day and and an awesome Easter.  That's all I can say.