Jeanne Winter is a pastor at Zion United Methodist Church in Kokomo, Indiana. She and her husband, Sandy, have 3 married children and 7 grandchildren. God has given her a passion to work with folks with special needs.
Here she shares her gift of poetry for Christians living through the COVID-19 epidemic
Our faces are sad, lonely, and long
Business is not as usual; all seems wrong
And it will be for a long time they say
For the church doors may be shut on Easter day.
No Holy Week service,
No waving the palms.
No gathering around the table;
Remembering His body and His blood.
Locked away from Good Friday
Recalling Jesus’ great love and sacrifice
Sunrise service is clouded over,
Eat your own candy for no eggs to hide.
No Easter this year,
Or are we wrong.
Easter was never a bonnet in a parade
Singing the “Jerusalem lift up your gates” song
We were decorating eggs;
We forgot the Lord.
We’ve clouded its meaning;
We need to look to The Word.
The first disciples got it wrong when they sighed.
Three times Jesus told them, I will suffer, die, and rise.
But when they saw the resurrected Jesus
They couldn’t believe their eyes.
Jesus has power over death,
Power over sin.
Everything is on lockdown,
But Jesus will come in.
Every Gospel contains the stories:
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
Hallelujah, He is risen!
Will forever be our song
Yes, the days seemed dark,
Yes, the future looked grim,
But Jesus is the Son of God
Our confidence is in Him.
Comment by Marco Bell on April 10, 2020 at 6:32 pm
I’m stymied as to why Christians feel compromised by the collective challenge to protect humans during the current COVID-19 Epidemic when I read of such lament.
Seriously folks, public safety supersedes Religious ceremony!
One should spend more time reflecting on our current blessings, like NOT being infected.
Happy Easter!
Comment by Lance on April 11, 2020 at 7:27 am
Thank you for the poem.
I have never felt the loss that the first followers of Jesus must have felt on Saturday like I do now that our church home is closed. I really miss seeing, praying with & worshipping with my church family.
It is a loss to be grieved & not deminished this Easter.
Thankfully, the Holy Spirit is with us now as he was then. I praise Him for undwrscoeing the temporary loss & for the hope of the joyful reunion with my brothers & sisters in Christ. Amen
Comment by Chris Cooley on April 22, 2020 at 10:18 am
GOD is good all the time! ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD! He sent JESUS to be with us.