Who Loves a Good Movie Easter Egg?

Who doesn’t love finding a good Easter Egg hidden in a movie or TV show? Something placed there for us to notice, or maybe only for the people paying close enough attention to catch it. Our Heavenly Father (may I pray the adjective also helps some) lays out Easter Eggs in our lives for us to follow. Easter Egg works for me for several reasons, some rather obvious given my faith, but the term certainly doesn’t belong to Christians. That would be rather juvenile to even suggest considering Our Heavenly Father is the 3O—omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent—and far more awesome than anything we could claim ownership over anyways. So, if you’re unsure of my admittedly absurd statement, would you help me follow a little white rabbit?

I think we all see these Easter Eggs. In fact, after having the privilege of talking with thousands of people outside my normal circles these past few years, I’m more convinced of that than I was when I first started writing this a year ago. The notice and wonder are where we all experience them, even if only for a microsecond. Something happens, something catches our eye, someone says something at just the right moment, or maybe a song plays with timing so perfect you simply have to smile and wonder. Some wonder longer. Some pass the egg only to turn around quickly and find it still there. Phew! Other times that quick second look meets nothing. It’s gone that fast.

Maybe that’s why the little white rabbit works so well too. We don’t always get to stare at these things until we understand them. Sometimes we only catch the movement before deciding whether to follow. Christians have been saying something similar about God for a very long time: we don’t see our Heavenly Father standing in front of us explaining Himself. We see what He leaves around us. I happen to believe those little glimpses lead somewhere. Someone else may call them coincidence, probability, inspiration, luck, pattern recognition, or simply something weird that happened on a Tuesday, excuse me it’s Wednesday now. That’s ok too. Over time is when people start deciding where and how to explain these things in their own minds.

Many see these Easter Eggs and ignore them, and tragically that’s a lot of people these days. It’s ok when something weird happens to dismiss it. It can be easier, quicker, and picking it up might even hurt, though only for a moment. Some see them and wonder and tinker. These people are our scientists and hobbyists and artists and inventors. Then there are some who see their personal Easter Eggs, wonder, pick them up, and hold on to them. Through hard practice every day, their eggs become bright and shiny. They show them and marvel. Some become our world’s celebrities and stars. Others never become famous at all and quietly share what they discovered with the people fortunate enough to cross their paths.

And maybe there’s something making the eggs harder to spot now. We spend an awful lot of time staring at technology six inches in front of our faces. “AI” is suddenly everywhere, though nobody seems particularly interested in defining which AI they’re talking about. Phones, feeds, notifications, algorithms, and now AI increasingly occupy spaces in human life that once belonged more exclusively to relationships, judgment, conscience, reflection, meaning, and faith. I don’t need to accuse a machine or its programmers of trying to replace God to wonder whether we should be careful about how much of those spaces we willingly hand over.

Besides, there’s a much simpler problem. How do you spot Easter Eggs in your world when your eyes are always focused six inches in front of you?

You can’t. Hard stop.

Look Up.

Sometimes what’s waiting there is incredibly ordinary. Like a well-timed song, it can make you wonder. Some wonder for a minute. Some, like me, wonder longer. Sometimes a prolonged wonder can be a distraction. Other times, it opens new universes that refuse to close after the encounter. As I’ve been writing this morning, my preferred music DJ has apparently decided to participate. “Only You.” “No One But You.” “Never Gonna Let You Down.” “Dandelion.” “It Can’t Rain Forever.” I’m not going to tell you what any of that means because I don’t know. That’s kinda the point. I noticed. I wondered. You’re now reading about it. The egg got shared.

Which brings me back to teachers.

One of mine technically wasn’t even my teacher. She was my theater director, which somehow makes her an even better example today. I hope she knows the happiness she provided through teaching, even if she never technically held that title for me. And if you happen to read this, please accept my personal thank you for sharing your gift and experience directing the stage, as well as giving me my first experience with Mr. Shakespeare’s gift. You did it masterfully, including during the harder times, and decades later here I am still carrying some of what you shared.

Do you remember Will in the classroom raising his hand and professing, “All the World’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players”? Maybe another good analogy is that the world is a classroom and Jesus is our Perfect Teacher. It’s an idea anyways. Fortunately, no one idea has to be right.

Where was I?

Oh yes, sharing their Easter Eggs.

That may be the part I understand better now. Finding one isn’t necessarily the end of the experience. We can share it. Teachers do this constantly. Parents do it. Artists, scientists, musicians, writers, directors, coaches, friends and complete strangers do it. Some of the people who have given us the most may never know they did it. They picked something up somewhere along their own journey, held onto it for a while, and eventually placed it where someone else could find it.

Those are Hidden Heroes quietly living among us.

For me, it’s also impossible to completely separate that from Jesus. Christians are supposed to share His message. That doesn’t have to mean forcing someone else to explain their experiences the way I do. Maybe sometimes sharing faith can begin much more simply.

Hey, look what I found.

They can decide whether to keep walking, wonder for a microsecond, pick it up, come back later hoping it’s still there, or follow the little white rabbit for themselves.

Though apparently my particular little rabbit went to hell, kicked some ass (oh, now I’m swearing), came back, and sits at the right hand of Our Father. Somewhere Monty Python and the Rabbit of Caerbannog just entered this story too. #fistpump

Where was I again? Oh yeah. In fairness, I recently quit caffeine cold turkey, and my brain has been about as clear as a San Francisco morning lately.

The Easter Eggs are out there. They’re there for all of us to notice and wonder, to discover and pick up, and sometimes to practice until they become bright and shiny. But I think they’re also there to share. Maybe yours is something enormous. Maybe it’s something you’ve walked past a hundred times. Maybe it’s something another person handed you years ago without either of you realizing how long you would carry it. Maybe it’s even someone you hope to keep in your heart, if not your life.

Or maybe it’s a song.

As I finish writing this, I’m singing along to “New Orleans” by Parachute, which seems wonderfully appropriate considering this whole strange journey began with a drawing of two people skydiving.

Coincidence?

Maybe.

I’m going to wonder a little longer.

Thank you to all our Hidden Heroes. 

And finally, play it out Mr. Stewart. We all could strive to be “Forever Young.” 🙏🏼