Everybunny’s Welcome

I think Elijah may have come to my Easter dinner.

As I understand, the Jewish faith teaches that at the celebration of the Passover an extra place setting is always set and the front door left open to welcome Elijah, or any other unexpected guests, to share their Seder meal.

I was not so generous in my planning for Easter lunch.  I had called each of my nieces and nephews to confirm that they were coming to my house to celebrate Easter with our family on Sunday, April 4 2010 at 12:30 p.m.  I dyed 24 boiled eggs and bought seven extra Easter baskets (three blue for the boys and four red for the girls).  The back of my closet was stuffed with at least 5 shopping bags full of Easter grass, assorted treats and chocolate bunnies.  At the time I bought all this sugar and fluff I didn’t think it was excessive. On Easter Sunday, however, as I lavished treats in the Easter baskets, five for us and seven for the guests, and still had two bags of candy unopened, I felt a bit gluttonous.  My eyes had been bigger than my baskets.

My husband said 10 people could fit comfortably around our table if we used both the leaves.  We were expecting 12.  The logistics of squeezing two more chairs around the table, filling and hiding 12 Easter baskets, all while blanching asparagus, was almost more than I could handle.  12:30 arrived and the family began gathering. And then Elijah arrived.  He came unexpected, unplanned, unaccounted for, and blessedly welcome.

It wasn’t really Elijah.  Her name was Kelsey.  She is a good friend of my niece who was far away from home on Easter Sunday with nowhere to go and no family with which to celebrate Christ’s resurrection.  She was my 13^th place setting hastily added to the table and my lucky 13^th basket filled with those surplus bags of candy.

When we sent everyone in search of Easter baskets, Kelsey tagged along with my niece seeming just happy to be here.  When I asked if she’d found her basket she admitted she hadn’t been looking because she’d assumed there wouldn’t be a basket hidden for her.  13^th basket found she said, “You didn’t even know I was coming.”  Isn’t that what setting an extra place hoping for Elijah the prophet to come is a little bit about? It is sharing gifts of bounty and joy turning our hearts to our families both nuclear and human.

She was my Elijah.  Thirteen people sat down at my table, not unlike the Savior’s last supper, to eat a very not kosher Easter lunch but we weren’t too crowded.  Somehow there’s always room for more around the table.