“That love, expressed in forgiveness on the Cross, is the heart of ‘atonement.’ Jesus’ life and death were above all a witness, there for us each day, each hour, showing the cost of pride, of arrogance, and greed.”
What if we could all do this on Easter Day? What if we could all place a daffodil on the grass, lots of them, six feet apart? What if, on the grass of the the parks of our little village, we could spread daffodils marking six-foot-squares? And what if, in the parks by our seas, we could all gather on Easter Day in a Creed-free Zone? Silently? Socially-distanced but together. Do I mean to annoy liturgists? No. It’s just a side-benefit.
Post-temple Jews continued to gather in synagogues, but I have always been fascinated by the way the primary altar of Judaism shifted to each and every home. Think of it, Christians: the high holy day of Passover is celebrated in the home! I often joked with clergy colleagues, “What if we told our people that there would be no Christmas or Easter services at church? What if we told them to celebrate at an altar in their own homes? They would run us out on a rail.”
“While I did not expect love to be the overriding emotion this past week, surely enough it was. Love for myself, love for those close to me, love for those I’ll never know but hope will be well. Just as strongly, I felt loved. Loved by those I see and speak to. Loved by a God of Grace.”
“It’s your journey,” he wrote. “It just makes me wonder if there’s another way to view it besides ‘sick,’ which sounds like it puts you in a subordinate position. You have nothing to fear. Not even death.”
“This is torture. I loathe this litany. Lent is not really supposed to be about suffering, so why am I making myself suffer? Is this harder than giving something up? Why am I so unholy that I can’t pray this stupid litany?”
“This is why faith formation in the “good times” is so important. The pay-off comes in the crisis. I’m proud of my community. I’m learning from them how to be church in the time of pandemic.”
“I weep and grieve and summon all my willpower not to break down as I am shopping or attending church or returning library books or writing this meditation on my best friend’s perilous days ahead.”
Ours is the only species that will create, watch, and calculate, its own demise on this planet.
“Abstaining from communion was the single best Lenten experience of my life. I discovered that I could be fed by the Word and other elements of worship. During this period, I discovered God’s abundant grace and love not in the bread or wine but in other simple ways—a hymn, the sermon, and even in the exchange of a smile with a member of the congregation. My Easter experience was made extraordinary through my Lenten practice. I truly came to appreciate worship in all its diversity in the Episcopal Church.”