Now Easter is behind us. All the "Alleuias" of are now silent. The crowds at the church are much thinner. Easter is put back in the box until next year when once again we will pull it out to celebrate once again.

But the Easter experience is not to be celebrated and then shelved for another year. The whole Easter experience is about "being like Jesus." Not just for a day or for forty days, for all year long. If we were to take the Easter experience seriously and tried to put it into practice, it maybe would be like the following suggestions.

One, walking the walk. Being Jesus everyday means that as Jesus walked among the people of His day, showing the mercy, healing the sick, interacting with others with respect and love ... we too, get to live in a world walking the walk ... making a difference ... healing the wounded, binding up the broken and lifting up the fallen.

If we chose to walk the walk, this is what we would be doing everyday as the church.

Two, dying daily. We would become crucified every day. As Paul stated, we would "die daily." What makes the Christian of today think that one can get off with less? "Dying daily" means that we are bound to those moments when our selfish interests rear their ugly head. Being Jesus means we go through a dying. We say "no" to those selfish interests as we put the need of others first. How tough that

is to do! It is even painful at times. But, no one ever told you that crucifixion was going to be easy and painless.

Three, buried. Being Jesus means for you and me, to feel like we've been buried and forgotten. We are to live faithful lives and no one seems to care ... or for that fact ... no one seems to notice. People may throw us a crumb every now and then ... but that is about all.

However, we are buried to the old ways of living.

Fourth, resurrection. Being Jesus means that the power of God energizes us afresh and anew each day. Every moment, in fact, God is filling us with the energy of the Holy Spirit. We are living a new life. We are alive to a new life!

Had it not been for Easter morning, we could not have been called to "be Jesus." And not only called, but empowered to be what we've been called to be. So, if you have boxed up Easter, go get it and unbox it. Get it out and put it on and "be Jesus." Isn't that what we have been called to be?

Have a nice day!

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Dr. Charles M. Wood, II is the pastor of The Christian Church in Logan, and an accomplished instructor of psychology and religion at Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College.

He is a Christian counselor in Logan - serving, ministering, and donating his time to people from all denominations.