Gathered and Dispersed

I just spent the last few hours going through email for my brother. As most of you know, he's living in a part of the world where one has to be careful what one says, and unfiltered email traffic can be problematic - so I'm his filter. When I first agreed to do this, I had no idea how many friends my brother had, in how many different places. We have now "trimmed" the list down to 271 "subscribers", and I've already heard back from people in Japan, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, and all over the U.S. It's been pretty cool to read the wonderful things people say to (and about) my brother, and it kinda got me thinking. He's probably in one of the most isolating careers there is, having lived on four different continents, in quite diverse cultures and language settings. And yet, he strikes me as one of the most well-grounded people I know. He has raised his children in an environment of perpetual change and unpredictability, and yet, from all indications, they are remarkably stable and well-balanced. Hmmm.... perhaps "rootedness" is not strictly based on geography. Perhaps "connectedness" and "isolation" have little to do with "place", and much to do with "person".

There is no small irony present in the way Easter is celebrated, in churches around this country and around the world. More than any other day of the year, people will gather in houses of worship on Easter Sunday, because - at some level - that is the "place" they feel they should be on that day. Not to be overly cynical (but still transparently honest), for many simply "being in church" on that day makes them feel "connected" to the church, even if only in a superficial way. Even if they don't know the other people there, and don't particularly care to get to know them, "being there" is important to them.

This irony is that the gathering of a crowd to celebrate Jesus has a lot more in common with the story of Palm Sunday (and the so-called "Triumphal Entry") than with the story of Easter. The crowds that gathered to cheer his arrival in Jerusalem - waving palm branches, shouting "Hosanna", and all the rest - had completely dispersed within a week. Even by Friday, the only crowd gathering around Jesus was the one yelling "Crucify Him!" By Sunday morning, crowds had scattered, friends had betrayed, and the scene became one of isolation, desolation, and emptiness. (More along the lines of what the typical church looks like the Sunday AFTER Easter.)

I don't begrudge those who wish to gather for worship - on Easter, or any other day. But as I look through the email from my brother's friends - friends who have "stuck with him" across the years and across the continents - I can't help but wonder how many worshippers tomorrow will seek the right "place" to worship, and neglect to know the people they worship with, or - more to the point - the "person" whom they gathered to worship. Just wondering "out loud".

Happy Easter, my brother. Wherever you are, wherever you go, I am with you.

-- Brother Tom