Jen, I agree—it's odd when Christians find it strange for Christians to remember and celebrate Jewish customs. There are also Jewish people who find it strange that we'd want to. We had to convince Elie that we have a sincere, deeply meaningful interest in Seder, not just a curious interest, spurred by novelty. (Some day you will visit me, and hopefully meet Dorie and Elie. You will love her blog, too. Check out Tumblingblocks in my blog love.)

Everyone, since I'm here and the experience of the Seder meal last night is fresh in my mind, I wanted to add a few things that I wish I had said in my old, archived post. Insert these paragraphs, wherever you see fit:

Elie leads the Seder with gusto, the curtains open, and we protestants throw ourselves heartily into the rituals under his lead, as best as we can. We sing the songs and listen to the scriptures and stories, letting the sounds of Hebrew words wash over us in their foreign yet oddly comforting ways. 

Hours after we've begun, after the kids have hunted for and bargained with the afikomen, and we're eating our kosher cake with strawberry-rhubarb sauce, it occurs to me how our children can only begin to understand how normal and yet not this whole scene is: one fully Jewish man leading several religious misfits and their children through an ancient ritual—the same ritual Jesus was raised with—as the moon rises above the corn and soybean fields spreading out in the dark night beyond the windows.