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Sermon manuscript from April 12, 2020 Rev. Linda Pepe Matthew 28:1-10 After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, And can we stop here for just a second? Because I always picture this particular angel looking a lot like the ghost of Christmas Present- big, burly, gregarious and LOUD- with a fantastically contagious laugh, and eyes that absolutely sparkle. And definitely has big grin on his face- the kind you get when you have just told a great joke, and you’re waiting for everyone to get the punch line kind of grin- Today try that image- back to the text- So suddenly there was a great earthquake for an angel of the Lord descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers & sisters to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” NRSV ********************************** I just adore Matthew’s version of the resurrection story. The characters are larger than life- the joyful energy bubbles up out of the text like living water. And it’s full of surprises. For one, did you notice that the women got to the tomb before the stone was rolled away? In the other gospels we see the women, or sometimes just Mary coming to the tomb, and finding the stone in already moved from the empty tomb. But here, the tomb is still sealed when the women arrive. Did you also notice that although the angel ‘came and rolled the stone away’, Jesus never actually came out of the tomb? That means that before that tomb was unsealed, Jesus was already up and on the move! Now, when we think about it, of course a simple stone couldn’t have held captive the Christ- Christ is the Word made flesh- the One present since the beginning of the world… no stone could imprison the Christ- Christ created the stones… And so naturally, Jesus is long gone… and though it thrills us, it also unnerves us a bit, because this is not the way we know things to work. Like, when he raised Lazarus from his tomb of death, Jesus had the stone rolled away and then Lazarus came out. That makes sense to us. When we want something moved, we move it, and not for nothing, until we move it, we expect everything to stay as it is. Whatever is sealed up inside our tombs will stay there until we decide it can come out. Knowing how things work, makes us feel better- like we have some control. And that’s the real issue isn’t it? Control. The opposite of feeling in control is feeling helpless, and that about sums up how many of us are feeling during the pandemic. This virus, this thing, is something we cannot manage- we can’t ‘decide’ when we will be able to roll away the stone of quarantine. So in our effort to NOT feel so vulnerable, we take control over the things we can; so we’ve organized and compartmentalized and horded and sanitized, and disinfected and binge watched and binge eaten and ok, so maybe its not perfect but it’s working the way it’s supposed to- everything is still exactly where we’ve put it. (Except maybe for one pint of ice cream, but that’s another story). And listen-no judgment- its ok. Honestly, knowing we have done all we can to manage our part in this, and surround ourselves with things that bring us comfort helps us breathe a little easier… Except other things seem to have slipped in without our knowing. We flip the news on even for the daily update and the familiar twinge of anxiety we sometimes mistake for indigestion makes its presence known- the death toll rises, and its smell wafts in the window and it permeates the fabric of our favorite chair- We cannot sweep out the ashes of loss. We begin to look around our well-ordered fortress of solitude and notice other uninvited guests- fear, anger, despair, depression- somehow they have made their way in despite our best attempts to control our environment. Listen- This is also “OK.” We are in extreme conditions, conditions that we are not used to- and yeah, our emotions and thoughts and sometimes our actions are all over the place. There are times we don’t recognize ourselves. Let me affirm- It’s ok to feel whatever you might be feeling. There is no normal in this situation. It’s why this scripture passage is so important today of all days- because it lets us know that whatever else we may have going on or who or what is with us in our sealed-up tombs, the spirit of Christ is also with us- and has transcended our darkest, weirdest, most extreme places. There is no stone thick enough, no wall high enough, no virus strong enough to keep Christ from you. That’s what resurrection is all about; that the Spirit of the Living Christ has transcended everywhere we are- right now! You see, sometimes, we wait for resurrection. We imagine that when its time to roll our stones out of the way, we will walk out of this tomb of isolation, that things will be different, better even. The crisis will have passed. Quarantine over! Then we can move to a new “normal” whatever that means. And when it happens, we vow, we won’t take things for granted anymore- not a hug or a handshake or a gathering. We will be different people. We will live as resurrected people! Like Mary and other Mary, we will run from the tomb, eager to share with anyone and everyone! Christ is risen- just as he said! And hear me- I look forward to this as much as everyone else. I have my own expectations of what life will look like after Covid 19. The thing is-after they left the tomb, life for Mary and other Mary and the disciples and the people of first century Palestine didn’t change a whole lot. Life didn’t instantly get better. They still faced everything they always had- there was still hardship and pain, financial worry and food insecurity, poverty, illness, grief, and loss. They still faced oppression and marginalization and discrimination and prejudice and fear- in fact many of them faced persecution on top of it! Post resurrection didn’t mean the end of those things because resurrection doesn’t mean that everything gets automatically better- or that there will be no problems or pain. What resurrection does is give us the ability to live our same life, but live it differently. Jesus once said, “I came to bring them life, so they would have it more abundantly”. The apostle Paul tells us, “resurrection brought new birth, to bring us into a living hope.”- Resurrection means that we can live the with-God life- in that hope- fully aware of Christ’s spirit in us, in each other, and in the world. Maybe that’s the punch line the angel was waiting for all of us to get- That from the moment we dare to look inside that tomb of death and find it empty, we realize that Christ has transcended the biggest thickest heaviest obstacles of our lives, even death itself! That Christ is with us in dark or light, in our homes or in our sanctuaries, in quarantine or in the throngs of a crowd-Christ is with us- nothing can imprison the spirit of the living Christ- We don’t have to wait for the end of quarantine for resurrection - it’s here now! The Christ in you is already up and on the move. We just need to notice it. Every connection you make, every time you reach out, every morning when you wake up and say “thank you God, for another day” that’s resurrection! It’s why the angel said- “this message is for you”! Because long before our tomb is unsealed, we do the work of Christ even from right where we are, exactly AS we are. Dare yourself to look in that tomb- and embrace the power of resurrection. God bless you…
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Everyone in the church, We liked Easter a lot... But the virus, which lurked in the shadows Did Not! The virus closed churches, the whole Lenten Season, Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason. And nothing about it felt normal or right. The coughing nonstop and the breathing so tight. The fear of the virus was now known to all, And it forced to stay home, the tall and small. With the church doors locked tightly and tied with a rope, * We stood there Good Friday, losing our hope, Staring out from our caves with our sour, Grinchy frowns, We sensed the depression and loss in our towns. “It’s over,” was echoed on each pair of lips, “No planning church service and after church trips. No rehearsing cantatas and sermons and prayers, No ironing our clothes and/or curling our hair.” And we growled, our fingers all nervously drumming, “This virus will surely stop Easter from coming!” For on Easter we know, none of us would do rather, Than wake bright and early- to church we would gather! And then! Oh, the noise! Joyful Noise! Noise! Noise! Noise! That's the best part of Easter! The Great Joyful NOISE! The children would rush for the eggs that were hidden. It’s Easter you see, so no candy’s forbidden And they’d feast! And they’d Feast! And they’d FEAST! FEAST! FEAST! FEAST! Then we all, young and old, would raise hands and bow heads, While prayers of thanksgiving and worship were said. We’d celebrate Jesus, his death and his rise, And after the sermon our prayers we’d reprise. And then we’d do something we like most of all, Every one in our churches, the tall and the small, Would stand close together, with Easter bells ringing, Hold hands in a circle, and all would start singing! And we’d sing! And we'd sing! And we'd SING! SING! SING! SING! And the more we all thought of this great Easter Sing, The more we thought, "How can we skip this whole thing? Why, as long as remembered the church has been open! There doesn’t seem anything left to have hope in" Then we got an idea! An AWFUL idea! And we thought on this Terrible, AWFUL IDEA! "Easter’s Cancelled!” We felt the fear rise in our throats. And we made few calls, no need for our coats. And we gossiped and clucked, What a great virus trick! We watched CNN till we made ourselves sick. "What we need is a savior!” and looked quickly around. But since saviors are scarce, there was none to be found. Did that stop us? NO! We turned back to the news We found many ‘saviors,’ and multiple views, Then we all got bandanas of blues and of reds And made ourselves masks to tie on to our heads. Then we hoarded our food and we all shopped on line, If we had to be home, well, at least we’d be “fine!” And we shut off our faith and we turned on our screens, We’d scroll all of FaceBook for this quarantine. All our windows were dark, and a funk filled the air. We were slipping and sinking in deep, deep despair. Good Friday was dark, and our spirits were down We saw Jesus dying, the thorns for a crown. "The passersby said, 'Why not get yourself down? You're King,? You’re God’s son? or are you a clown?” .And we wondered too- “Lord, why not set yourself free? We need you to save us- God, where can you be?" We got stuck on that thought, for a moment or two. And we pondered if God would really come through. The darkness kept spreading, continued to grow. Cause hope, in a crisis, is the first thing to go! And we slithered and slunk, with smiles most unpleasant, Though we longed for the mercy of God to be present! “Netflix! And Amazon! Distractions for looking! Chocolates! And Puzzles! Baking! And Cooking!" And we stuffed our hope down. The virus, was winning, Our belly’s and even our heads were all spinning! The death toll was rising. We all felt so scared. The loss touched our families, We weren’t prepared! So on knees bent so deep we went back to the Lord. “Give us hope through this darkness, give us faith through your word!” The cross loomed so large, it was hard to remain. "My God!" Jesus cried, "why’d you leave me in pain?" And the thunder clapped once, Jesus took his last breath, It seemed all hope was lost in the wake of his death. And they took down his body in utter dismay. His friends and His family, they wept and they prayed. And then all the next day, we did as we were told Social distancing practices getting so old. Though we gathered on line to feel comfort, and cry. And all of us badly in need of reply, We doubted the power of Christ to come through. And without resurrection, oh, what would we do? So on Saturday night, we did what we could, to ease our own fears, though we knew where we stood. Our faith, it felt shattered, we needed to sleep So we said a quick prayer, “God, our souls quickly keep” "Wait till tomorrow," God whispered to we, "There's a light that is rising that you’ve yet to see." And God’s words soothed our hearts, we held all that was said. And we breathed a deep breath and we all went to bed. But while we each slept in our quarantined rooms, Jesus was waking and leaving the tomb! On Sunday, the sun rose on time, inch by inching. But we woke to our usual doubting and grinching. Easter Morning, we still feared, this year, would be skipping us, Till we realized the truth under all that was tripping us. And our mouths, they hung open a minute or two And then we remembered just what we should do. “Listen”, God said, “To my voice- you MUST hear!" So we paused. And we opened our hearts and our ears. And we did hear a voice, and we sat up bed. “Jesus WAS risen, just as He said!” We took in the son-rise- God opened our eyes! Jumped out of bed smiling, with shocking surprise! Every one, every Christian, the tall and the small, Was praising and praying and singing and all! No virus stopped Easter from coming! IT CAME! Through God’s grace and mercy, it came just the same! "It came without choirs! Without church doors open!" "It came because NEW LIFE is what we have hope in! And we laughed at our doubts, sang till voices were sore. Then we all thought of something we hadn't before! That we don’t need to join hands or meet face to face. Cause the church is a people, connected by grace And the virus, still looming in all of the land, Is no match for the power of God’s mighty hand And what happened then? At the church now, we say, We worshiped, and sang, ‘Christ is Risen Today!.’ Connected by Spirit, to God, through Christ’s love We raise resurrection songs here and above! And we brought back the joyful noise, feasting in praise And Christ, RISEN CHRIST! To our voices we raise! To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, a time to reap that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time of love, and a time of hate; a time of war, and a time of peace I swear it’s not too late -Lyrics by Pete Seeger based on Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 I have always been glad that I live in a place where the seasons change. While I can’t say that I always enjoy a lengthy, cold and cloudy winter or an oppressively humid summer, I know that eventually, the weather will change, bringing with it something new and different. As much as most of us have been anticipating the arrival of spring this year, none of us were prepared for the changes that have been thrust upon us. As we continue to practice safe hygiene and social distancing, the apprehension and stress over what may happen next can overcome us. As I often do in times of stress, I find a great deal of comfort and wisdom in music. This particular song, based on Biblical text, could have been written with what we are currently experiencing in mind. Obviously, the time to be born and the time to die are particularly poignant right now, when we see such disturbing and frightening examples every day on the news. Our days seem to be more suited to weeping than to laughing, and mourning rather than dancing. Also, social distancing prevents us from embracing, which makes us feel even more isolated. However, I can find some good news in some of the other stanzas. As Pastor Jen mentioned in a recent sermon, maybe it is time for some of us to cast away stones; a metaphor for getting rid of some of the baggage and self doubt that we all tend to carry around with us. Gathering stones together could mean taking the time to do a soul search; determining who we are and what we really want to do with our lives. We have been given the gift of time, even if it is an unwelcome gift. There will be days when just getting up to face the day will take more strength than we think we possess. We will have days when we want to rip things apart in anger and frustration, but there will also be days when we sew things back together, do a puzzle, create something delicious to eat, or paint a beautiful picture. Some days we won’t want to talk to anyone, but other days we will be glad for all the connections that we have and rejoice in a phone call or Face Time. Having lots of unexpected time may force us to slow down and really appreciate what we do have. I know I have spent more time walking and enjoying the beautiful flowering trees and bushes; listening to birds singing with a new understanding that these are God’s creatures who are not bothered in any way by what is going on in the world. This unanticipated and dreadful season will eventually come to an end. I think it may be hard for most of us to just go back to business as usual, which may actually be a good thing. I have seen so many examples of kindness, dedication and love throughout this whole ordeal. People really do step up in times of trouble, putting aside hatred over differences, because, after all, we are all in this together. The world after COVID 19 may look different if only because we managed to survive, but wouldn’t it wonderful if there could be more love and peace in the world? I swear, it’s not too late! Lois Dinsmore We often refer to Wednesday as "hump" day. The middle of the week, the day that seems like if we can get through it we will be ok! Lately it seems like everyday is a Wednesday for me. I find myself saying one step closer to being able to socialize, see my family, go back to work and most of all being able to worship with my church family again as each day passes! This week I began to dig deeper into God's word (my Bible) and the promises that were given to each one of us as Christians. I could hear God's soft voice in my soul whispering because I live you can face tomorrow! Do I believe it? With the ways of the world today? That "Wednesday" doom crept right back in. So I decided to start meditating and listening to one of my favorite songs "My Redeemer Lives" by Nicole C. Mullen. This song ministers to me in such a way that it soothes, uplifts and allows me to pour out any hurt and uncertainty I am feeling. After a few replays of this song and some tears shed. God's whisper sounded louder and I began to say out loud "YES, I can face whatever comes my way everyday because Jesus Christ lives!" I know that same creator of the heavens and earth created me for a purpose. I will survive, I will make it and that better days are ahead not only for me but for all of us who believe! I realized at that moment it's not about what day it is today. Everyday brings new challenges and opportunities . So I am saying good bye to the Wednesday cliché hump day phrase. Each day we live we are always going to be trying to get through it in some way. Some days more then others. Whether it be good or bad or up and down we will get through. As we continue through this Holy week towards the celebration of Easter, let's remember WHO holds our tomorrow! Many years ago I had the chance to visit poet William Wordsworth’s house in the U.K. One of his well-known poems is entitled “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”. The poem tells the tale of daffodils, and his home was surrounded by them in early spring when I had the chance to visit. As spring has sprung and we are stuck inside, well, at least near our homes, I am seeing the sprouting daffodils and other flowers from the ground, as if they are unware of the somewhat chaotic, fearful times some of us are experiencing now. I thought about these daffodils. They spend most of the time, 10 months or so, in the darkness of the ground, perhaps unaware of what is to come, or just waiting in silence for a new awakening. It must be lonely under that ground, certainly dark, damp; and yet now they make an appearance, showing their full beauty to the world. It reminds me of some of the darkness that we are surrounded by right now. There are fears of illness, realities of the end of life, the danger of short supply, and yet, there are many good things happening. People are starting to be more intentional about connecting with others. People are taking time to pray. People are finding time to just breathe and reflect on life. Many people are returning to simple pleasures, whether it be cooking, playing board games, completing a crossword puzzle, reading that dusty book on the shelf, or working on a puzzle. For many, it has been a time to slow down, a great time to be still and know. That is a phrase that has come up a lot in my weekly FBC small group meetings. Daffodils, basking in the sunlight while appreciating the rain, living in darkness, and growing in that darkness, to be something beautiful. My First Baptist Family, when you see the daffodils or other spring flowers I pray that you can see some of the beauty that comes out of the darkness. Good Morning, Beloved Congregation. I just read the article by D.T. Wright that has been posted on the First Baptist Moorestown Facebook site. He reminds us that as Christians, it’s not our job to have answers to the questions about why bad things happen to good people, and vice versa. He recalls to us the Psalms of Lament, and lets us know that weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth are perfectly normal and acceptable ways to respond in tough times of grief and loss. But most of those prayers of lament end with hope in God. They remind us that God has been faithful in the past, so why would God stop doing that now? All this reminded me of a children’s story I told in church many times. I called it “The Irritated Oyster.” It starts with a question: Do you know how pearls are made? (Having a pearl as a prop is always helpful!) Real pearls come from oysters, of course. Sometimes little grains of sand get inside the oyster’s shell, and it irritates the poor little thing if it can’t be expelled. So God made oysters to be able to deal with the problem of sharp grains of sand by making them able to coat that grain with a smooth secretion. In the end, that irritating grain becomes a smooth, beautiful pearl. It’s something miserable and irritating being shaped into something lovely and good. I know from experience, and I think you do, too, that this transformation from the worst thing that could happen to us to the best, most healthy thing, happens all the time. It has always seemed to me to be what God does. It’s part of who God is. So in these difficult times, we can lament and grieve with the psalmist. That’s where many of us are right now. There is necessary grief when that grain of sand is so sharp to the point of wounding. But with God, it’s never the end of things. The oyster makes a lovely pearl, and God brings good out of evil. Many of us today are the pearls that started with a grain of sand. Maybe that’s our job now - lamenting, not explaining, but lamenting our current situations. Then, not just stopping there, but keeping in mind always to look for what God is going to do with them. It has long been part of my faith that when something hard or weird or seemingly insurmountable happens in my life, my immediate prayerful response has always been, “Well, God, I can’t wait to see what you’re going to do with this one.” And then be ready to follow along. As we wait together in hope and love, may the peace of Christ be with you. -Pastor Carole God On the Mountain How many of us have tried something new over the past 3-4 weeks? I know I have! My first zoom meeting was with Pastor Linda, Stacey, Howard, and Dave. I did not have high hopes for this conversation, with four other people, on my iPad. To my surprise it went very well! I felt connected to a group of people I usually see once a week, if not more. The next day Carole Boutwell and I talked via Zoom. It was like we were sitting at a table in Fellowship Hall catching up. This past weekend my book group met via a Google Meet or Hangout; I’m still not sure what it was, but it worked. We shared our range of feelings about Before We Were Yours. I’ve realized that I am not as techie as I would like to be, or thought I was, but I am open to learning. It hasn’t always been easy, but it has been rewarding. New ways of connecting, working, and communicating have helped keep these same four walls of my house looking brighter. So, I have opened myself up to allowing technology to occupy some more time in my days. Before social distancing became the norm, I decided to scale back on my time spent on social media. Well, I have had a change of thought. Wanting to keep in touch with family and friends has caused me to wade back into the waters of social media. Thankfully I was greeted on Instagram with a story that my niece, Lily, posted that brought a big smile to my face. She posted a picture of a wall-hanging in her room that has this verse from Matthew 11, “Come to me who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest… for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” She posted this because her friend tagged her in the task to ‘See a Scripture Send a Scripture’. So, Lily posted this and tagged five of her friends. Though not tagged I sent Lily one of my favorite passages for when times are tough, “Hear my cry O God and attend to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I will cry out to you, lead me to the rock that is higher than I…” - Psalm 61:1-2. Her response to me was, “Wow I love that!! I don’t think I’ve ever heard that one before.” After she wrote that, I was going to hit her up with a few of my other favorites; however, I figured I’d just let her sit with that verse for a while. So, I’d like to invite you to try some new technology. It could be anything... attend an online peer-support meeting, call a friend and see if they want to meet up for coffee through a zoom meeting, sign-up for Facebook so you can watch the church service with others and enjoy the chat, and/or sign-up for Instagram and share some pictures and encouraging words. Learn some new tricks with videos, pictures, filters, and lots of other things I’ve been told are out there. I look forward to connecting with more folks in new ways. Here’s the other thing I learned how to do today, it isn't perfect but it was fun... Well, I tried for over an hour to upload a 10 second video... there is still much to learn. :-) Stay tuned, I'm determined to figure out how to post it. Today we welcome Guest Blogger Jill Lee. Jill teaches classes at FBCM on God's Creatures, and is a self proclaimed "Bird Nerd." We are so grateful for her timely and spiritually moving offering. ********************************* Listen! Birds are Practicing Social Distancing As much as we struggle with it, social distancing is helping to keep our society safer. If you have time on your hands (many of us now do), take a few minutes each day to go outside and hear God’s chorus of social distancing. Birds! God has taught songbirds to practice social distancing in order to survive. Let me explain. During the spring, male song birds sing to establish a territory. To us, it may sound like they are singing for fun, but for each bird, this is very serious business. They are basically telling other male birds to keep their distance. They must do this to survive. Their territory is where they will build a nest with their mate, The female will lay eggs and then feed the young chicks. This whole process requires enormous amounts of food. Their territory has just enough food to sustain them; it is basically their grocery store. The Cardinal and Tufted Titmouse need seeds. The Carolina Wren needs insects and fruit. The Hummingbird needs nectar from flowers. Back to the singing. When a male bird sings, he is actually telling other male birds to stay out of his territory. He repeats his song over and over to get the point across. You can learn the songs. Once you do, you can identify the birds. Listen to each song below at least several times. Then, go outside and discover the conversation. Outside, listen to the pause between each song. You may be able to hear another male bird of the same species calling back faintly in the distance. He’s announcing his territory as well. God’s creatures make social distancing sound beautiful. We can take courage in that. It’s working for them. God will provide for us as well. Take care and have a wonderful week. Jill Lee Northern Cardinal (they have many songs; this one is very common) https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Cardinal/sounds Carolina Wren – scroll down under the main photo to the second triangle play button recorded in Maryland to hear his characteristic “Cheeseburger” song https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Carolina_Wren/sounds Tufted Titmouse – very territorial little bird! Scroll down under the photo to the first triangle play button recorded in West Virginia to hear his distinctive “Peter Peter Peter” song https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Tufted_Titmouse/sounds “When we were torn away from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again.” 1 Thes. 2:17–18a The words of the Apostle Paul resonate deeply within me during this time of social distancing. I feel, literally, like we've been "torn away" from one another. While we thank God for technology that is available so we can continue to connect, it doesn't take the place of face-to-face, person to person ministry. That is a painful fact. I uncomfortable in what people are calling, 'the new normal.' There is nothing 'normal' about being separated from one another; we are not created to live in isolation. There is nothing normal about living with continual underlying anxiety, or having to sanitize our groceries (if we can get groceries), or gun shops being designated 'essential' while houses of worship remain closed. There is nothing normal about taking our temperatures every day, or taking a deep breath each morning to see if we can hold it for ten seconds, or to gasp in fear at every stray cough. During times of anxiety, we are used to rallying together. We're used to holding on to one another as we worry or hugging one another even as we weep. It brings comfort to our minds and hearts, but also to our physical bodies. So with this gift of physical contact taken from us, albeit temporarily, we must name it for what it is... grief. We name it, not to give it power, but so that we can recognize it for what it is, and care for ourselves appropriately. During times of sadness, fear, stress, and crisis, we are often under the misconception that we should put on a smile, keep our chin(s) up, hang in there. After all, the feelings we have underneath are scary, and we don't often know how to handle them. But when we repress our feelings, or push them down in order to 'keep it together,' we set our heart and soul up for exhaustion and even damage. Jesus tells us, "“God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted” Mt. 5:19. When we can muster the courage to name our fears and release them to God; name our grief and all of those feelings of being torn away from each other; name and release the deepest most painful part of our suffering, God's healing power and gentle comforting can begin. May God give you grace and peace. 1 Thes. 1:1b -Pastor Linda |
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