Worshippers remember true
meaning of Easter season
by Torie Knight
STAFF WRITER
With just seconds left in a high school basketball
game, Kurt Busiek broke away from the pack and landed the winning layup.
Busiek doesn’t remember what team his school was
playing in that game many years ago. All he can recall is his father, a
man who normally didn’t show much excitement, running the length of the
court with his arms outstretched to congratulate his son.
Busiek, pastor of Clarksburg Baptist Church, encouraged
other Christians to do the same Friday — to keep arms open and put away
pointing fingers.
Busiek was one of seven area pastors who spoke about
the final moments of Jesus’ life to a crowd gathered inside Christ Episcopal
Church for a solemn three-hour observation. To be loved, he said, is a
basic need in life.
Busiek said some may see an old, rugged cross when
they think of the crucifixion of Christ. He likes to imagine a vertical
beam reaching down from heaven and a horizontal beam representing open
arms.
He believes Jesus’ death on a cross with His arms
outstretched was a sign of His love and desire to embrace.
“When I look at the cross I see His arms — open, waiting for us,” Busiek
said.
The observers Friday remembered the three hours
of darkness while Jesus was on the cross. A time filled with pain, suffering
and humiliation, said Rev. Bill Kniceley of First United Methodist Church.
“We Christians are not haunted enough by the cross,” Kniceley said.
The pastor said people often skip from the celebrations
of Palm Sunday to the celebrations of Easter Sunday without thinking of
the days in between. “We don’t look at the ugliness of the cross,” he said.
It was a time, he said, when Jesus felt forsaken, was badly beaten and
bore the sins of the world.
Clarksburg resident Judy King attended the services
with friends. She said it is important people pause to remember Easter
for what it is, not the commercial jungle it has become. “It means our
sins will be forgiven,” King said. “That’s the most important part of Easter.”
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