Easter: A Life’s Reflection
While I was beginning work on this newsletter, I had the need to look back at the newsletter from March, 2020. What a long way we have come from that time! When I wrote the front page article, and posted our planned events for Easter, we had no idea what was to come in a mere 19 days. There it was, in all its innocence, an announcement for an Easter potluck brunch, a Good Friday meditation, and Easter and Palm Sunday services complete with choir. Not to mention choir practices and an in-person Introduction to Unity class. I admit to a certain sense of longing as I looked at those writings from what seems like a long, long time ago.
Now, as we (hopefully) are finally letting go of Covid, we are moving to be less fearful of gathering in groups. We, as a Board at Unity, are not ready yet to reinstitute our Easter potluck, or to call our choir together. But we have lessened the seating restrictions, allowing more people to come together on Sundays, while still asking people to wear masks during the service. We have picked up having a time for cookies and coffee together after the service once a month or so. Our Tuesday book group has been meeting in-person for the last several months. The Board has been meeting in person, part of the time, and plans to continue doing so. We will also have an in-person Good Friday evening service, led by Rev. Susan Gumm. We will definitely have a joyous Easter celebration, probably both on Zoom and in-person. Our prayer chaplains plan to hold an in-person Introduction to Unity class at the beginning of May. After almost two years of semi-isolation, it feels like coming home to be back together in our church building.
This self-imposed and self-regulated quarantine has certainly been a time of growth for all of us. Some of us (perhaps the loners?) adapted to being more separated than usual quite quickly. Others of us were reluctant to admit how challenging it was to be masked constantly and to be so apart from each other. Eventually, we all began to realize how hard it was to live so in fear we were unable to hug each other or even to smile at strangers in the grocery store. It’s difficult to keep smiling at people who didn’t even realize we were smiling at them! And missing the hugs at church was the worst! Little by little, though, we have started to lay down our defenses, venturing out a bit at a time. It was such a relief to be able to see again the smiles and welcoming touches from our friends at church. Now we are beginning to trust that it might be all right to see other smiling faces, in other places. Let us all affirm that we truly are safe together, as we unite in prayer.
Unfortunately, there are a few people in our Unity community who still need our protection. We have some among us who are undergoing treatment for cancer, or who have other chronic illnesses which demand total protection from germs and viruses. It is our shared responsibility to care for them and to honor them in their journey. So we will do our best to share the light that is Unity with all who come through our doors. If that means wearing masks, using hand sanitizer, foregoing singing, and giving up potlucks, we will do so gladly, knowing that as we give, we DO receive. Let’s continue doing what we must to ensure that we can “all walk home together.”
With love and blessings,
Linda Andrus, your Licensed Unity Teacher
