Skip to main content

Reflections on Reopening

 This Sunday, my church had its first service in the sanctuary in over a year. There are quite a few restrictions we need to follow, such as wearing masks the entire service, using only every other pew, not singing, and not passing out bulletins or the offering plate. Admittedly, I'm not thrilled with the restrictions, especially since the people at my temporary church home have been unmasked and singing with abandon for months. However, it was worth it to me to be around my church family even if it meant dealing with a little inconvenience.

While the restrictions are a bit frustrating, there was a certain beauty to be found in them as well. Without having the bulletin, I was less focused on what came next and more on what was currently happening. I also feel like the absence of them made for a more intimate service, despite the distance between congregants. Not singing allowed me to really listen to the words of the songs. (Admittedly, I did mouth along with the words for one song. I know that song so well and love it so much that I couldn't just sit there without doing something.)

I did notice a bit of cynicism creeping in while listening to the sermon, The pastor was talking about how we had to wait to reopen, and now that we are open again, we have to wait to sing again, remove our masks, and resume some of our traditions. Since I don't feel we should have waited this long and be restricted this much, I found myself growing a little annoyed, especially considering that I have been attending an unhindered church across town for months with no problems. Following the service, I prayed about my reaction a bit, and I began to realize that I was feeling that way in part because I miss everyone at my temporary church home. Even though I'm glad to once again be worshipping in the church where I grew up, I'm sad that I no longer get to see the new friends I made in the past nine months. I'll almost certainly need to go back and visit every once in a while.

The reopening has been bittersweet. Bitter because it didn't happen sooner, there are more restrictions than I think are necessary, and I'm missing my temporary church family. Sweet because I missed worshipping with my church family and the traditions I was used to. While this past year was a struggle, I'm thankful that God provided me with a temporary church family to help me get through it, and I'm thankful now to be back with the church family I grew up in.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Outside Looking In

(My post Life>Death  chronicles my struggle with suicidal depression. This story is based on the vision God used to save my life.) It all started after the knife sliced through my wrist. As I watched my life drain away, I felt a sense of peace. I knew my pain was finally over. Soft arms lifted me up and carried me off to Heaven. There I watched as my parents found my body. They started to cry, which I had expected. What I hadn't expected was what they were saying. "What did we do wrong?" they cried out. "Nothing!" I screamed. "You did nothing wrong!" But they couldn't hear me. What had I done? As my friends and other family members found out about my death, they said the same thing, and I continued screaming that it wasn't their fault. Their reactions caused me to be in agony, which struck me as strange. If indeed I was in Heaven, wasn't I supposed to be pain free? That is what I had always been taught. Then came my funeral. It...
2 comments
Read more

Just a Girl

"And he came and said to her 'Greetings, favored one. The Lord is with you.'" - Luke 1:28 Last week we celebrated the birth of our Savior, and people around the world read about the miracle of His conception, the trip to Bethlehem, the shepherds, the angels, and the wise men. There are many characters in this wonderful story of our faith, but I want to focus on one in particular: His mother Mary. Of all of them, she was the first to know about what was about to take place, and the first to have to accept her part in the story. Most of the images depicting Mary show a lady in her mid-twenties at least, the age many would associate with someone engaged to be married. However, this is likely not the case. In that time, it was common for a girl to become betrothed when she was still in her early teens, often to a man who was much older and had already established a career. Jewish betrothal was as binding as a marriage, with the only difference being that the man had n...
Post a Comment
Read more

Scars in Heaven

 "The thought that makes me smile now Even as the tears fall down Is that the only scars in Heaven Are on the hands that hold you now." ~ " Scars in Heaven " - Casting Crowns     The sermon this past Sunday was about Jesus appearing to His disciples after the Resurrection, Thomas not being there, and his subsequent doubt. While this is a typical sermon topic for the Sunday after Easter, this time I started thinking about how this story relates to the song quoted above. What Thomas needed to see to believe in the Resurrection were the scars on Christ's body.     Revelation 21:4 states, "Death will be no more, mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away." To me, that means that any limitations we had in our lives, including our scars, are gone once we enter those pearly gates. I know a woman who struggled with mobility problems her whole life, which required her to wear ugly orthopedic shoes. After she died earlier...
Post a Comment
Read more