The final chapter in Aidan Kavanaugh's profound yet succinct volume, On Liturgical Theology, is titled, "On Liturgy and Normality." His point, one which the entire book builds, is that liturgical practice, in contrast to the violence and greed of what we call normal existence, is the way God intends us to live. In the West, it is now Easter, and it will soon be Pascha in the Eastern churches. Do our Easter practices identify us as something other than what the world calls "normal?"

Before answering that question, it may help to read and reflect a bit. Here are some suggestions:

• N T Wright considers Easter's challenge to Empire
• Ron Rosenbaum wonders what's normal after Hiroshima
• Dan Nichols looks at the democratic policing of thought.

Take and read.