IMG_4885So here we are …. Stuck in the middle again.  I felt like this last year, when Mike was recovering from brain surgery.    Now?  Well there’s nothing like a global pandemic to put life on hold.  But is life really on hold, or has the focus just shifted?   Maybe here in the middle is where we regain perspective? 

 

They were in the middle too that Saturday, but they didn’t know it yet.  They thought it was over, the wise teaching, the healing and the restoration of a nation.  Everything they had been living for was changed in one day.  

Unknown-1For us, we may be feeling the same.  We watched as this illness and the effects came into stark contrast to the life we all expect to live.  Maybe it was as simple as changing our day to day way of living, or for some it may be even more serious.  It may be the stress of money, layoffs, food insecurity or even having the illness themselves.  I think we can all agree….the middle can be a hard place.  At this point, I am reminded of those living in the middle all the time.  These problems are not just the manifestation of a virus, but are their world.  Is this new normal, someone else’s every day?  

I have no answers to the worlds big problems, except one.  And that is to remind us of the answer His friends and those who followed Him received so long ago.  

 Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 

He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying. 

And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Remember what I have told you.”

Matthew 28: 5-7

IMG_5979Jesus is alive, and that’s what we celebrate!  I believe there is an answer and His name is Jesus.  Not laws, not church and not the goodness of humanity.  Just Jesus.  If you’re stuck in the middle and seeking an answer, no matter what the question, I would encourage you to do something unprecedented.  Grab a cup of coffee and relax in your jammies in front of the TV with a livestream Easter service.  And maybe, just maybe, you’ll find some comfort, peace and maybe even some answers you’ve been looking for.  

Come on… you know you’ve always wanted to go to church in your slippers!