What is Easter if you do not believe in resurrection? I grew up Roman Catholic, and Easter was the day you affirm the central miracle that anchors the entire religion. The role of the resurrection really is the important part – Jesus’ values do not even make it into the Nicene Creed. When I left Roman Catholicism, Easter started to feel hallow. The reasons I was taught to celebrate it no longer felt true.

Us Unitarian Universalist folks are called Unitarian in part because we do not see God as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – trinitarian – God’s something singular, if God’s anything at all. Or maybe God’s all things. We don’t do creeds either. We discern truths and meaning, we endorse using the world’s wisdom traditions (and science) in the process of doing so. If you ask ten UUs about what’s out there, you’ll get ten answers.

We’re a community of values and covenant, not creed. It is normal to me that the person next to me in church has a different articulation of the divine. It’s normal to me that both of us hold our ideas sacred. Easter, for Christians, the most sacred day, celebrates a miracle that most people in my faith do not believe happened as described. Those values we hold – that love is the center of them all – are part a living tradition that traces itself to Jesus’ teachings. (One of the founding congregations of my current one was the Universalist Church of the Messiah.)

So what to do with Easter? There’s never a bad day to celebrate being alive. Spring brings us flowers, sunshine stretching into longer days, and slowly unfurling leaves. Warmer weather lets us use lighter garments as armor against the elements, until the air can run across our arms unobstructed. When is it a bad day to gather with loved ones? Never, really. Over time, it became full-bodied and vibrant again. Easter is a day of joy, of noting our interconnection with the people and world around us. Rebirth need not be a literal thing.

So the kids and I got dressed up and we went to church. The sermon explored how Jesus’ followers understood themselves after his death but before Christianity existed. We spent time with the community in the parish hall. The kids played in the garden outside. We came home, made a fancy meal, invited loved ones over. It was a lovely day.