The liturgical calendar says we are in Eastertide-do you feel that way? I don't. As much as I search for new life and resurrection in the everyday I am still beset by a low-grade, ever-present sense of uncertainty. And perhaps therein lies the lesson-it's there, it will continue to be there for the foreseeable future, and I need to learn how to welcome it.
This is the first Easter in decades that I haven't come home from church and collapsed for a multi-hour nap. My church held a "parking lot" service on Easter Sunday which was actually quite beautiful, all things considered. The congregation had to remain in their cars and communion was spiritual. We sang a hymn, listened to a sermon and closed with a stellar recording of Handel's Hallelujah. It was a gorgeous spring day and the birds added their chorus to ours. It was an out-of-time and out-of-place experience with a steep learning curve, but ultimately a time of hope, filled with the Spirit.
As I was not worn out from Holy Week duties I had the energy to make a delicious Easter dinner, using my grandmother's china and the sterling from marriage #1. Fresh salmon from our local market, newly picked asparagus from a farm nearby, and apple crisp from cold storage apples. And a nice red wine.
So as we enter week six of the pandemic I am trying to be both productive and reflective. And I am ever-mindful of the sick and those out-of-work. I'll close with a prayer which is comforting to me and which I believe-that Love's desire is for health and wholeness.
Prayer for People Facing Great Uncertainty
God of the present moment,
God who in Jesus stills the storm
and soothes the frantic heart;
bring hope and courage to all
who wait or work in uncertainty.
Bring hope that you will make them the equal
of whatever lies ahead.
Bring them courage to endure what cannot be avoided,
for your will is health and wholeness;
you are God, and we need you.
Amen.
(from the New Zealand Prayer Book)
