Easter is a season of hope that follows a season of penitence, self-search, and lament. But this year is an exception (as I am sure there were other exceptions in history). This year, lament does not end with Easter but continues beyond our proclamation of life. And we are caught with the question “how can we celebrate hope and new life while the hope we preach is obscured by a large cloud of doubts, fear, and uncertainty?” And so we grieve…

This week we remember and celebrate the appearances of Jesus to his disciples after his resurrection (John 20:19-29). This is an important part of the resurrection narrative because it reminds us that the story did not end for the disciples on Sunday morning and with the proclamation of the women who saw the empty tomb. They had to experience the risen Lord each for themselves. This is a lesson for days like these. We do not only rely on the news of the resurrection, but we need the experiment of the resurrection and the challenge of the resurrection. The hope we receive is that Christ is with each of us on a personal level. And like Thomas, we need to touch his wounds to get our own experience of the resurrection. And though we grief, but we also rejoice at the touch of resurrection we get to witness in these dark times. Be it a phone call, a letter, a cooked meal or groceries delivered to our door.

Grief remains a human response to the losses we experience. And to sit with others in their grief is a sacred and precious thing. But more importantly, we can always count on the One who will be sitting with us whatever our feelings might be. In this season of hope and eternal life celebration, let the Psalmist’s prayer be ours too: Loving God, where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? For if I mourn, You are there; if I feel lonely, You are there; if I fear the pandemic, You are there; and if I sit alone in my grief, You are there!

We will be exploring the theme of grief throughout this Easter season in our weekly Easter Study, starting tomorrow at 6:30 PM.

See you then,
Rola