||| SUN DAYS ON ORCAS by EDEE KULPER |||
For two years life felt like it came to a standstill in so many ways. Not being able to gather, hug, laugh, converse, and be with others changed me. I imagine it changed you, too. That kind of sustained endurance when you’re lacking in other human beings isn’t healthy. I went from feeling blah to feeling dead in some parts of my inner self.
In the past weeks, things have started happening in ways that are filling those dead areas with life again. Like the “old days,” my calendar has been accumulating events again – finally! I petted baby goats with other adults and children out in a verdant grassy field in the warm sunshine. I attended a school play in a full house (or gym) with so many of your families. I mourned with others at a memorial, celebrating the life of another human being and honoring their passing. Last night, I sat alongside others and watched three people sing and make beautiful music in church.
All of these things are really important in the resurrection of one’s wholeness. Communing – for whatever purpose – goes way beyond the surface. Seemingly benign activities like getting together to watch and hold goats or going to an ice cream shop when you know other people will be there, too, can fill gaps inside of you when you’ve gone way too long without celebrating much of anything. Partaking in gatherings that involve laughing, mourning, and singing are essential life-bringers.
If you are feeling in need of even more resurrection and celebration, I invite you to come to church this morning. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you believe, or how you perceive yourself or others – you are welcome in a church because everyone belongs in a place of love.
By the time you’re reading this, Orcas Island Community Church has already congregated and celebrated the dawning of Easter morning at the top of Mt Constitution. You can still make it to our 10 AM service at the church itself. I can already tell you that it will fill some of your dead areas with newness, with joy, with life. There’s something more powerful than we realize about celebrating together, singing together, and being together in the same space.
May you feel the power of resurrection in more ways than one. Happy Easter!
