Detour (blog)

When my daughters were little, our family journeyed south to spend Easter with my husband's parents.  That meant a long car drive with seasonal traffic backups, rest areas, packing and unpacking, catching up with extended family...It was wonderful and exhausting - and distracting.  In all of the preparations and commotion, we lost some of the spiritual focus that we had gained in Lent.Early one Easter morning we found that our usual travel route was blocked and we had to take a detour.  This was before the GPS was a thing, and my husband's unusually keen sense of direction was failing.Soon enough we were lost.To our surprise we passed by an LCMS church, and in circling back around we discovered that their Easter service was about to begin.  So we decided to join in.Our senses came alive when we took our seats in the sanctuary, noting similarities and differences between this church and ours back home.  It was amazing to worship with people we had never met but who believed and testified to the same faith in Jesus.When it was time for the children to come forward for a chat, my older daughter followed along with them happily."What do you think is inside?" the pastor asked, holding a bright yellow plastic egg up before the group of kids gathered around him.  After some deliberation, the group decided to go with "candy" (though they never settled on what kind).Then they held their collective breath, leaned in and waited for him to open the egg.With a resounding "pop", their hopes were burst as the pastor opened the egg to reveal...nothing.  It was empty.  He talked with the kids about the empty tomb, where Jesus' body had been laid, and gave them each an empty plastic egg as a reminder of our Lord's glorious Resurrection.Unloading the car back home after Easter, we piled all of our luggage on the kitchen floor.  The suitcases were stuffed with new things we had collected on the trip - plush bunnies and other toys, marshmallow peeps and brightly colored jelly beans, museum brochures and gifts.  My older daughter immediately began rummaging through the cases, spilling their contents out onto the floor, until she found it, the empty plastic egg.  Then she took a permanent marker and wrote "The Tomb was Empty" on its smooth surface.Amazing, that in all of the commotion of our trip she was able to recognize and remember what was most important, and all because of that detour.We are all having to take a huge detour right now from our normal lives, with the spread of the coronavirus.  Worldwide pandemic, gatherings and events cancelled, businesses closed, people working and studying from home...who would have expected this?  Where are we going, and when and where will this leave us?  My internal GPS is overloaded, and at times I feel lost.Grocery store employees are working to keep their shelves stocked and move us through the lines quickly, though it puts them at greater risk of infection (heroes, all of them!).  Hospitals and health workers are overwhelmed and undersupplied.  Some people are suffering terribly with the virus, and some have lost loved ones to it.  Even those of us at lower risk are self-quarantining, trying to keep up with the news and the latest restrictions, reaching out to all of our loved ones, and trying to figure out a plan forward.How do we keep our spiritual focus in all of this commotion?It's still Lent.  And Easter will be here soon.If you have a Lenten devotional, we encourage you to continue reading it (as much as you are able).  For those of you (like me) who never had a chance to pick one up before the church doors closed, we will be posting some devotions (starting tomorrow) here on the blog each day for you.  It's not too late to start a Lenten journey, or to circle around and get back on it.God's Word grounds us.  It orients us and gives us direction for moving forward.Remembering God's love for us in Jesus, repenting of our sin and receiving His forgiveness, and holding fast to His promises is how we are going to get through all of this!  Sharing God's love with others, by caring for and encouraging them, is how they will get through this.The Lord was out ahead of it all, as He always is in everything.  And he's right here in the middle of it all too.I'm thinking of John the Baptist, out ahead of Jesus, calling people to take a detour with him out into the desert, to prepare for the One who would deliver them from sin.  Imagine how disoriented the crowds of people must have felt out there, until John's words of hope pointed their lives in a new direction.Think of the crowds and commotion around Jesus himself.  It was right there, in that context of concentrated pain and suffering that people experienced the Kingdom of God at hand, and that gave new meaning and purpose to their afflictions.  News of Jesus' ministry and of his healing power spread faster and farther, and with greater impact than the day's diseases.  Think of all the detours, as people came seeking him!If your detour has led you here, welcome!  We are blessed to have you with us.May God's Word inform all of your thoughts and feelings, and direct your actions, in this time of trial.We are praying for you!