Sunday, April 12, 2020

Have a Blessed and Happy Easter!

At daybreak on the first day of the week
the women who had come from Galilee with Jesus
took the spices they had prepared
and went to the tomb.
They found the stone rolled away from the tomb;
but when they entered,
they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
While they were puzzling over this, behold,
two men in dazzling garments appeared to them.
They were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground.
They said to them,
"Why do you seek the living one among the dead?
He is not here, but he has been raised.
Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee,
that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners
and be crucified, and rise on the third day."
And they remembered his words.
Then they returned from the tomb
and announced all these things to the eleven
and to all the others.
The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James;
the others who accompanied them also told this to the apostles,
but their story seemed like nonsense
and they did not believe them.
But Peter got up and ran to the tomb,
bent down, and saw the burial cloths alone;
then he went home amazed at what had happened.

Luke 24:1-12

Saturday, April 11, 2020

Pandemic Planet

The dramatic turn of events in the past couple of months has been astounding. The coronavirus pandemic which apparently originated in Wuhan, China has swept around the world. While there have been other shocking, tragic events in my lifetime, none has had such an ongoing impact on daily life. The effort to halt the spread of the virus has meant drastic measures to limit close contact among people, with many largely confined to home. Even mundane tasks like grocery shopping have turned into a surreal adventure involving masks, limits on number of shoppers present, etc. And the economy has taken a big hit with workers and businesses idle or under-utilized. Many legislatures have recessed or adjourned. Some essential government and industry activities do continue.

Today is Holy Saturday, and the usual practice of group church and temple observances of the holy days surrounding Easter and Passover has turned to mostly online participation by worshipers from home. Though the form in which most of us observe will be a little different this year, the profound meaning is as present as ever. And yes, special prayers are being offered for the end of this global pandemic.