 "In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it, you'll be the grandest lady in the Easter Parade." - Irving Berlin Up until this season in my life, Easter had been all about the basket, the chocolate bunny and the colorful eggs. My childhood was filled with going to church every Sunday, which especially included Christmas and Easter, and then returning to an extended family member's home for a meal and just generally enjoying all of these special days together. However, this one year in particular, at the ripe ol' age of 25, I had a sweet ~but confusing~ law enforcement marriage, a new ~and rather expensive~ home, two beautiful ~and busy~ girls (our son was born a year later), and a longing for something more than just the Hallmark style holidays. I wanted more depth, more learning and more information about these holidays.
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Linda Seitz, Retired LEOWHealing marriages and homes by sharing raw stories of redemption and reconciliation.
I generally just try to keep my head above water while revisiting all of the things I've started and stopped over the years.
When I look back, many times during my life I have found myself pursuing “things” in order to prove that I could accomplish something...anything. I would take on a mission or a project just to numb the feeling of isolation in our law enforcement marriage, or numb the confusion of our spiritual lives being on different paths. Pursuing, progressing or trying new things can be a solid part of your growth in many ways, but doing it for the wrong reasons can invite some deep sadness. In my mind, I defined many of my starts and stops as “failures” and it was tough to get past.
This year has been a doozy so far! The year of 2020 will be known for introducing a new topic
of conversation that may have otherwise seemed quite odd. That topic would be, “cancelled vacations.” You may overhear this question as you dine in the parking lot of your local restaurant, “So, what vacations were cancelled for you this year?’ The answers range from places like Paris to New York and Scotland to the Rocky Moutains. The facial expressions used by those telling stories of their well-planned, but cancelled vacations look as sorrowful as if a favorite puppy was lost in the process. However, some people just shrug and say, “Oh, we hadn’t planned anything for this year.” Gulp. That should be shocking.
There is an overwhelming message coming through loud and clear; people today are walking away from church.
Could it be that we’re reeling from the 2020 Quarantine that closed churches, prohibited singing and condemned community groups - isolating the believer from any kind of fellowship, so the idea of church naturally took a back seat? Maybe it’s that we went to church for the reason of “checking the box” for the week, but never attended with any kind of conviction, so it was easy to leave when everything went online. Possibly, we have some old wounds that are surfacing in our emotional life and we don’t really think church is the place to help fix anything, so we cocoon into safety, choosing a random television show for entertainment instead of researching a pastor’s website for the latest archived message. Or…you’re a Law Enforcement Officer and you’ve experienced a fair amount of ugliness within the walls of a church during your career. |
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