Jason Guidry participating in Carry the Cross by Shepherds Table church. (photo credit: Braden Marriott)Lisa Johnson and Braden and Jill Harring carrying their cross in front of the First Baptist Church in Mountain View. (photo credit: Braden Marriott)The Dewick Family holding their crosses on the side of Highway 60 leaving Mountain View. (photo credit: Braden Marriott)Gail Marriott and Zach Long holding the first set of crosses coming into Mountain View by Gentleman Jim’s Repair. (photo credit: Braden Marriott)

Easter in the Time of COVID-19

Mountain View Carry the Cross
As of April 11, in the state of Missouri there were 4,024 positive cases of the COVID-19 virus, four of which are in Howell County. 109 Missourians have died from the virus. It comes as no surprise that the annual Carry the Cross event, which normally lines the local highways with Christians toting large white crosses on Good Friday, looked very different this year. In Willow Springs, the event was all but cancelled. One lone participant stood on the side of the road with his cross. In Mountain View, event coordinator Angela Oziah said about 120 people participated this year. 
Despite church and community efforts to maintain a degree of normalcy this Easter season, there still seems to be a sense of longing and distance from our church families and maybe even from God Himself. At this time of year, we look forward to putting on our “Sunday best”, coming to church, hearing a sermon about the death and resurrection of Jesus, and to top it all off, an Easter Egg hunt where we watch the children of the church light up with excitement when they find an egg. But this year, all that has been taken away from us. This year, those are memories that we will not get to make. Would a change in perspective make the loss of our dearly held traditions easier? 
People  were created to long for relationships with others and to love God’s people (Mark 12:31). It is a normal thing for humans to find comfort and joy in fellowship with others, but when it becomes a distraction from the reason why we celebrate, it becomes an issue.
Colossians 3:2 tells us, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on Earth” (ESV). Jesus' death purchased for us more than chocolate in plastic eggs. He died as the perfect sacrifice to pay a debt that none of us could pay. Christians have to remember that traditions help us to celebrate this occasion, but the Easter Bunny was not the one who rolled the rock from the tomb. 
In this time, while the world is looking for a cure, it is up to Christians to show the world the cure Who humbled Himself and came to this world as a savior to die on a cross for our sins, and rise again. He came and was/is everything He said He would be. Where we are putting our focus, on creation or the Creator?

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Howell County News

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