I have noticed a growing sentimentality in my spirit as of late. Maybe I am getting old. Maybe I have been quarantined too long. Things that normally would not keep my attention, I find strangely beautiful. Just yesterday, I watched the neighbor boy climb to the top of our shared fence so he could play ball with my son down below. Here they were, each in their own yard, obeying the rules, but driven by the deep need for human connection. They have not been able to play with anyone outside of their family in months. When they discovered that only a fence separated them, loneliness turned into an opportunity. It made me think of a line from Jurassic Park by Dr. Ian Malcom, “life finds a way.” And so it does.
With 34 more days left in the Easter season, we are called to continually remember the promise found in the resurrection. The promise that through Christ, when all seems lost, life will find a way. It rarely looks as we expect it to look. Sometimes it looks like the final breath of a loved one as we sit holding their hand. Sometimes it looks like a sweet note from a friend. Sometimes it looks like a walk in the park as the birds sing sweet songs to us. And sometimes it’s two boys playing a game of forbidden baseball over a fence. It is all of this and so much more. A reminder that Easter is a beginning and not an end.
Let us pray. God as we continue to find ourselves surrounded by uncertainty and fear we thank you for being our resting place. Each day that we are given upon this earth is such a gift. We confess that we have not always used our gifts well. We have failed to see the beauty in all that you are doing around us. We have allowed petty disagreements to sow seeds of division. We have closed our eyes to the promise of abundant life in you. We ask you this day to turn our brokenness, uncertainty, and fear into an opportunity to reconnect with one another but more importantly with you. May we always remember that with you, the end is only the beginning. Amen.