HOW THE VIRUS STOLE EASTER
By: Kristi Bothur
With a nod to Dr. Seuss đ
Twas late in â19 when the virus began
Bringing chaos and fear to all people, each land.
People were sick, hospitals full,
Doctors overwhelmed, no one in school.
As winter gave way to the promise of spring,
The virus raged on, touching peasant and king.
People hid in their homes from the enemy unseen.
They YouTubed and Zoomed, social-distanced, and cleaned.
April approached and churches were closed.
âThere wonât be an Easter,â the world supposed.
âThere wonât be church services, and egg hunts are out.
No reason for new dresses when we canât go about.â
Holy Week started, as bleak as the rest.
The world was focused on masks and on tests.
âEaster canât happen this year,â it proclaimed.
âOnline and at home, it just wonât be the same.â
Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, the days came and went.
The virus pressed on; it just would not relent.
The world woke Sunday and nothing had changed.
The virus still menaced, the people, estranged.
âPooh pooh to the saints,â the world was grumbling.
âTheyâre finding out now that no Easter is coming.
âTheyâre just waking up! We know just what theyâll do!
Their mouths will hang open a minute or two,
And then all the saints will all cry boo-hoo.
âThat noise,â said the world, âwill be something to hear.â
So it paused and the world put a hand to its ear.
And it did hear a sound coming through all the skies.
It started down low, then it started to rise.
But the sound wasnât depressed.
Why, this sound was triumphant!
It couldnât be so!
But it grew with abundance!
The world stared around, popping its eyes.
Then it shook! What it saw was a shocking surprise!
Every saint in every nation, the tall and the small,
Was celebrating Jesus in spite of it all!
It hadnât stopped Easter from coming! It came!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!
And the world with its life quite stuck in quarantine
Stood puzzling and puzzling.
âJust how can it be?â
âIt came without bonnets, it came without bunnies,
It came without egg hunts, cantatas, or money.â
Then the world thought of something it hadnât before.
âMaybe Easter,â it thought, âdoesnât come from a store.
Maybe Easter, perhaps, means a little bit more.â
And what happened then?
Well….the storyâs not done.
What will YOU do?
Will you share with that one
Or two or more people needing hope in this night?
Will you share the source of your life in this fight?
The churches are empty – but so is the tomb,
And Jesus is victor over death, doom, and gloom.
So this year at Easter, let this be our prayer,
As the virus still rages all around, everywhere.
May the world see hope when it looks at Godâs people.
May the world see the church is not a building or steeple.
May the world find Faith in Jesusâ death and resurrection,
May the world find Joy in a time of dejection.
May 2020 be known as the year of survival,
But not only that –
Let it start a revival.â
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