Driving to the lower 9th ward today for church
fighting back the tears
houses still devastated
weeds climbing through the cracks
bursting in windows
claiming the floorboards
turning houses back to dust

Streets still littered with debris
the remnants of someones home
lying on the road for all to see....
disgrace or despair?

Where are all the people?
no children playing
no old men sitting on their porches
no women dressed in their Easter finery
on their way to worship

The emptiness of the sights seeped into me
touching my heart
whispering to my very soul
"Do you remember?
Do you remember this?
This vacant scar of despair
This life laid to waste
This land broken
These lives torn asunder
Do you remember?"
And my souls, crying out in anguish, "Yes."

I pull up to the church on the deserted street
and walked into the sanctuary
nearly as empty as the life outside.
Easter morning, and only a few people to witness
sitting quietly in the pews.
Then a burst of life as the pastors come forward to greet me
and for the first time this morning I feel a warmth
and tears sting my eyes once more

So much in this hour
truth and pain and resurrection and hope
all mingle and flow and swirl

Prosperity out
looking for the resurrected Christ in unknown places in
Where is Christ today?
Where has he been for the last three years?
Where has he always been?
Are you looking in the right place?
Listening with the right ears?
Feeling with the fullness of your heart?
Look to your left and your right
look to the volunteers that continues to stream through your lives
look to the ways our community is coming back
look into the grave, and see that you don't need to look there anymore
look to those OUTSIDE the grave
those who walk in the light
and the truth
and the love
and with courage
LOOK.

The music embraced me with Spirit and love
I could feel all the emotions in the unfinished building
the cement floors waiting for new carpet
the plywood risers waiting for attention
the furnishings holding it all,
despair and hope
sorrow and joy
brokenness and healing
paradoxes of truth held by this one community
working together to heal
to find wholeness...and what this means for them now
to walk together in the shadow of death and life.

Ressurrection....yes....but we remember Friday
That we will not forget.

Alison