I heard the girls getting up this morning and leaving quite early. It turns out they drove down to the beach to watch the sunrise on Easter Sunday morning. It’s something we each have come to love and cherish over the years each Easter. But this year is so very different given that we couldn’t gather as a church to sing praises at sunrise. The girls couldn’t even park at the beach because everything is barricaded in effort to keep people from going down there and congregating. So they took pictures of the sunrise from the van.
And as you can see, it was cloudy. There were a lot of things trying to prevent us participating in sunrise this morning. But no matter how hard nature, along with COVID-19, tried to stop this from happening, the sun still rose and the light still shone.
The light penetrated the obstacles.
It penetrated the darkness.
It always does.
Then later this morning we tried to tune in to our church’s online service. But after trying for about 20 minutes, the sound cut in and out so often that we couldn’t really enter into any form of worship so we finally stopped trying to watch. So then we turned on worship music and started singing along together. We’ve never done that before in this way. It was so beautifully moving. I for one felt the presence of the Creator in the room and was thrilled that this was how we were doing Easter Sunday morning together.
It’s a reminder that nothing, not COVID-19, not nature, not YouTube glitches, not even death, can stop the light from shining.
Nothing, no matter how hard it tries, can stop Jesus from rising.
Jesus is alive.
The tomb is empty.
Hallelujah.
Hallelujah.
Hallelujah!
Prayer
(Based on today’s readings from The gospel of John 20:1-18)
Risen Lord
Haec dies quam fecit Dominus: "This is the day that the Lord has made."
Give me the strength to rejoice and be glad in it, no matter how many obstacles there are.
Your love and life are bigger than COVID-19,
bigger than depression,
Bigger than loneliness,
Bigger though multiple sclerosis,
Bigger than cancer,
Bigger than death!!!
Help me to trust that you have it all under control.
Help me trust that you are alive and with us every step of the way.
Hallelujah.
Christ has risen!!!
Amen
Dion,
It’s only in the last months I started to follow you. It’s a pleasure to read your writings! Raw, real and moving. Truly inspirational and full of hope and faith. Thanks for sharing your journey! Thanks for your encouragement for those walking a similar path. You give us a unique glimpse into you and your families daily lives. It’s a good life but not an easy one. Stay strong and god bless.
Thanks for these very kind and encouraging words Novalee