A Lovely Easter Service

It was a lovely Easter service.
The pews were packed to the brim.
The choir sounded oh, so lovely,
singing victory-claiming hymns.

The Easter lilies abounded
Their fragrance overflowing the room.
White adorned the pulpit.
No sign in this place of a tomb!

The children’s time was precious.
Those cute and adorable tykes!
Each in their Easter finest,
charming parents and grandparents, alike.

The minister’s smile was infectious.
His singing filled the air.
The sermon was brisk and uplifting,
a festive story to share.

There were even a couple of baptisms,
a profession of faith or two.
Re-affirmations by others,
pre-planned and according to cue.

Yes, a lovely Easter service
Then tell me why it’s true
That my heart feels oh, so heavy
And my soul feels oh, so blue.

I should be happy and joyous
to see such a church-filling crowd.
I should be uplifted and cheerful
Instead of ensconced in this shroud.

Then why is my spirit so burdened?
And why is my countenance sad?
And why does my heart beat faster?
Where comes this feeling of dread?

With shouts of loud Hosannas
The roar rises to a din.
And I seem to sense His teardrops
As He enters Jerusalem again

And instead of Easter it feels like
It’s Palm Sunday all over again.

God forgive me, but it feels like
It’s Palm Sunday…
all over…
again…

Oh Father, hear my humble cry. If I am wrong Lord, please, please, take this feeling away. I don’t like feeling like this. Is it just me, Lord? Why does my heart feel so heavy within my chest? Why do I feel the burning in the back of my throat? Why am I near tears?

Oh God! I just sense such an air of frivolity - and I just can’t put my finger on why. Am I just too serious, too much of the time? Am I being overdramatic? Should I just lighten up? Am I (as Joe and I often joke) just being a “fuddy duddy?”

There’s that “two-sided coin” again, Lord… Am I being judgmental or discerning?

LORD hear my humble cry. Please answer me…

I beg in Your Son’s Holy and Precious Name - Amen…



©Betty J. Newman April 8, 2007