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Covid Chronicles – Resurrection Monday.

April 13, 2020 By Sandra Heska King

Resurrection Monday

Today is Resurrection Monday.

Yesterday was Easter, and I cried. It was a small thing that triggered it on top of something else that happened the night before. That sparked a cascade of past hurts. You know how that happens.

I haven’t even cried during Covid. Well, until until yesterday. We live a pretty quiet, mostly introverted life anyway, so not a lot is different for us. Except that my husband works from home now. And except for all the lovely plans we’d made for last month and the weekend that were cancelled. And except for this carb fever, and that the scale has no pity. I haven’t shed a tear over any of that disappointment. Not that my husband being home all.the.time. is a disappointment, though it IS a bit of a challenge. But I hadn’t cried over any of it.

Maybe the small thing and the other thing just ignited some bottled sorrow and concern for the current state of things–for those who have lost loved ones, for those who have lost jobs and paychecks, for those who fear losing loved ones or jobs, for leaders who must make hard decisions, for those doing battle on the front lines, for immunocompromised loved ones. Maybe it was like pushing that grill trigger button that sparks the gas and creates a mini explosion. Maybe it triggered some pent-up grief for the lot of it–maybe even some anticipatory grief of what the future could bring. Maybe even for us. We are healthy “elderly/seniors,” though we fight the label. But for sure our immune systems are undoubtedly compromised simply because of age. What happens when things return to “normal,” and we’re released from isolation? When I imagine my death, I imagine celebrating at least a centennial birthday and then passing on from old age, maybe a cancer of some sort. Never “just” a virus.

But yesterday was Easter. And though I was soooo tired because I didn’t get to sleep until about 3 a.m., I think it really was one of the most meaningful of Easters. It was quiet–just the two of us. No Easter bunny or baskets or candy or colored eggs (though I had pickled some) or big family dinner. But we participated in our church’s streaming service, then watched Franklin Graham and Michael W. Smith in Central Park. The tears started and stopped. After that I checked into Easter messages from past pastors. I took a nap. We watched the Sight and Sound Theater production of Jesus I had recorded.

All day I listened to messages of hope delivered to empty churches and yet there seemed to be more people connection. Our pastor talked about “redemptive longings” and how knowing and believing in the resurrection gives hope in the face of loss. Even in the shadow of a virus there is hope.

And the pope talked about a contagion of hope.

Later we went out to the “swamp.” I really should start calling it a marsh because that’s the part we mostly walk in. We watched the sun go down and saw a couple of moorhens escape a gator seeking supper. Well, the first one escaped intact, but we aren’t entirely sure about the other one. That was a new thing as we rooted for the birds. Most of the time we walked in silence, and I thought about Jesus.

We came home and ate strawberry shortcake and I went to bed early.

But today is Resurrection Monday. I joined our church in its daily online devotional. I took a shower. I brushed my hair and smiled at my gray roots. I applied a little–just a little–makeup, slipped in some earrings, and put on a cute sundress. Okay, so it’s really just a swimsuit coverup, but it’s not getting much use in these days of closed pools and beaches. Maybe I’ll even spend some time with an exercise DVD later. Maybe.

Because today is Resurrection Monday, and the sun never goes down on the resurrection. And there’s always hope. And one day there will be no more tears.

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Comments

  1. Andrew Budek-Schmeisser says

    April 13, 2020 at 12:14 pm

    Dry your eyes, try to smile,
    but do not hate your tears;
    real sorrow’s not a grinding trial,
    but the grace of passing years
    that grow a sensitivity
    to a world that’s hurt and fallen,
    when from vast eternity
    you hear our better angels calling,
    and tears become your sacrifice,
    the real mark of your love and pity
    as you sit with the Christ,
    in mourning over David’s City.
    One day the weeping all will end,
    but ‘till them, weep with your Friend.

    • Sandra Heska King says

      April 15, 2020 at 3:39 pm

      This is wonderful, Andrew. Thank you.

      I especially love this:

      real sorrow’s not a grinding trial,
      but the grace of passing years
      that grow a sensitivity
      to a world that’s hurt and fallen

  2. Carol J. Garvin says

    April 13, 2020 at 12:41 pm

    Our Easter was different, too — quiet but meaningful describes it perfectly. Just the two of us, and yet we were more aware of how united we were with others in a similar position all around the world.

    • Sandra Heska King says

      April 15, 2020 at 3:50 pm

      Kinda crazy, huh? But yes. It was nice to have time to ponder the reality. And as much as I missed the grands, it was nice not to be caught up in the Easter Bunny this year as well as the crazy of a kid’s birthday party that happened to fall on the weekend. Sending a socially distanced hug to you, Carol.

  3. Doug Spurling says

    April 13, 2020 at 3:14 pm

    Thank you for this, it was like being there…at least six feet from there anyway.

    It must be something in the air this year. I cried, no wept, just the other day…it’d been years.

    I had just written:

    With all the agony and pain ever known to man from creation to this day, He choked out the saddest words ever echoed on the planet, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me.”

    At that moment all my bloody, nasty, putrid sins were laid on Him.

    After writing that last line, I broke, and wept…and wept. hard. I cried tears of sorrow, for my part in nailing Him to the tree. But, there was something more…tears of gratitude.

    We cry, we have sorrow, but thanks to Jesus, we weep with Easter in our tears.

    • Sandra Heska King says

      April 15, 2020 at 3:54 pm

      “Something in the air.” Yes, that must be it.

      And that last line… love. I need to remember that we weep with Easter in our tears.

      Thanks for popping in, Doug.

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Talking with D about his grandfather. One of the f Talking with D about his grandfather. One of the farmhands said Grandpa King was one of the toughest men he ever knew. In the dead of a Michigan winter, he wore a baseball cap instead of a knit hat. In April through October he never wore a shirt.
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Once he was raking hay and while trying to get the rake in gear, he fell against the tractor fender. He finished raking hay. Then for the next two days, he rode on a combine bagging oats, bouncing and breathing in dust and lifting bags. After 3 days, he said, “I don’t feel very good. I’m gonna go to the doctor snd see what’s wrong.” He had two or three broken ribs, a punctured lung, and pneumonia.
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D said he only saw him tear up three times.
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1. When his 19-year-old grandson died from a heart condition.
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2. When D said, “ Goodbye Grandpa. I’ll see you in the spring.” ( D was maybe 11 or 12. ) Grandpa was on his way to FL for the winter and knew he probably wouldn’t be back. He died about a month later.
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3. When he talked about the fact that the hotels in FL would not let black baseball players stay there. That was in the 50s.
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Also no flowers or cards. 

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It’s Inauguration Morning. Prayers for the incoming and the outgoing. Prayers for all of us because we are all exhausted. Prayers for peace and patience and safety and wisdom and more compassion and more kindness and more love and unity. And, please Lord, no more virus.
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