Did you ever play the game "Freeze" as a child? The group is running and playing as though everything were normal and then the one who is "it" yells, "Freeze!" Everyone has to freeze exactly as they are when they hear the word. The first person to stumble or move from their "frozen position" are "it" for the next round.

There are moments in all of our lives that are frozen in time and frozen in our memories. They can be good moments, or bad moments.  Moments of utter joy and moments of profound grief. Whatever else they may be, these are moments that are locked in our hearts and minds because of the power they hold.

That first kiss.
The time she said, "Yes."
The first date.
A look on the doctor's face.
The day a child was born.
The time your mortgage was approved on the first house.
The time you lost the person you loved most.

These are moments locked in place and time. We stop when these frozen moments are called to mind. The most dramatic of them all are those moments of life and death that make up the greatest most wonderful, and the worst most devastating events of our living.

"Defining" moments some folks might call them. As we gather on this Easter Sunday we celebrate the single most important defining moment of our Christian faith - the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Without this moment, none of the other defining moments of our lives would ever make sense.