I got truly upset/angry about all this lockdown business today for the first time.

In our Church’s Easter service this morning on YouTube we were led in singing:

“Where oh grave is your victory;
where oh death is your sting?
Eternity is won for me
by Heaven’s eternal King.”

As we sang, I began to weep. Now I’m an expressive, emotional guy when it comes to Jesus - particularly on days like Resurrection Day. But I wasn’t weeping just because of the power of the lyrics. I was angry and grieving.

This is a song meant to be sung TOGETHER with the voices of the people of God lifted up in chorus as we hide behind King Jesus and shake our fists victoriously at our enemy, declaring our freedom from his pathetic attempts at overpowering us through death and bondage.

But I was on my couch.

In my living room.

Singing loud, for sure, and grateful to be surrounded by my family. But also deeply, deeply grieving that I couldn’t hear the voices all around me of Christ’s church singing loudly as one.

I think it’s OK to grieve this. We *should* long to be together as the body. In the meantime, I’m leaning hard today into the promises of Ephesians 4 that we are all bonded together in unity by the Spirit as one church, one faith, one baptism, under one Lord.

And soon, I know we’ll gather again. And when we do, clear a path! It is entirely likely that I’m gonna grab a palm frond, sprint a couple laps around the auditorium, and belly flop into the baptistery out of pure joy and excitement.