Truths for right now:
Every kid has seen or made stained glass chalk outlines on their sidewalk while the church has been closed. When churches are closed no one can see the stained glass. They’re designed to be seen from the inside only. Maybe we should flip that.
There’s tangible evidence that the church has moved outside and the people are looking for it. Our attendance based on youtube viewership is actually up compared to what it would be if we were in the church building. Not only that it appears to be growing. Obviously more people go to church on easter than other times in the year so I don’t know how sustainable that is. It’s interesting that the Easter number appears similar to other weeks it’s up but not by as large a margin as I would have thought. My guess is more people watched together today then when they watched for a longer period of time
Everybody is under crisis.
The whole world started a new job three weeks ago. No one knows what they’re doing and there is no hierarchy of leadership anymore.
No one knows how to plan for anything right now. We still have no idea how long this will last. 4th of July fireworks have been canceled and school inside school buildings has tool, but does that mean we’ll all socially distance until April?
People love being outside and they use this program called Zoom inside a lot. Fortunately it’s been nice enough out that every day there was at least one sun break and we could get out and walk- it seems like that’s true for tomorrow as well.
Which means we’re all equals on some level in a world that’s been more divided then ever the opportunity to sacrifice and live alone now so our loved ones don’t die alone later is beautiful.
It’s ironic that we’re supposed to be 6 ft apart when 6 ft is how deep they bury you. In a sense we’re all grieving some form of a death and we’re all buried in something. And death is separation.
Yet what did we celebrate today this Easter Sunday? Someone coming back from 6ft under ground to touch, break bread with, be embraced by, and be with his friends.
Marking It Up 