This morning when I awoke, I was contemplating if I wanted to attend church this morning, as it is yet another day in the Treasure Valley where the weather may start out snowing in the morning, raining at noon, full on sun at 2 pm, and then back to freezing temperatures at night. Things didn't work out exactly according to plan last week, which in turn has placed me in that unknown area once more, and if the truth be told, I've probably felt a little sorry for myself, frustrated that my plan has changed twice in the first quarter of 2023.
I quickly glanced at my emails while I was preparing my morning coffee, and there was an advertisement from a Christian media company. The title of the email was "Can You Wear the Cross?" Being an individual who is always curious about how a tale is told in the marketing world, I decided to read the email as opposed to just deleting it.
The email was about a pastor who went to Korea, and was wearing a cross. It went on to talk about the danger in that particular situation of a Korean identifying as a Christian. This pastor had been queried by one of the Koreans practicing Christianity if he could wear the cross that the pastor had. The pastor shared his concerns about any Korean wearing the cross, however, this particular person asked again the next time the pastor visited.
The Korean eventually convinced the pastor to let him have the cross, and when he received it, he exclaimed, "I am proud to wear the cross!" The pastor never saw this individual, or the others, again which left him to ponder if they had disappeared because of their faith.
I thought to myself about how in the United States we have the freedom to be Christian, or Jewish, or Muslim, or any other religion including no religion. Suddenly I realized the immense silliness of my own situation, and decided to walk to the church I was raised in. The church that my family has served in for three generations.
The sermon was about the meaning of Palm Sunday, and during the Children's moment, the adult who was telling the story asked the children if they knew why the people waved palms as Jesus rode in on the donkey. One answered that it was because it was Halloween! Of course, everyone laughed at the child's answer.
The Minister also spoke about the most recent shootings in Nashville, and that this time, it hit closer to home, as the church across from the school was one of our churches, and a congregant had been lost.
After the service, I decided to stay and help fill plastic Easter eggs for festivities next weekend. I was surrounded by mostly folks who are older than I who were taking time out of their day to open plastic eggs, fill them with candy, and close them back up. I then walked back home, taking photos of flowers sprouting, the sun shining, and whatever else caught my eye, wanting to capture moments of the day. All of the while considering the brave act of that one single Korean, how numb we are becoming to mass shootings which take the lives of innocents and never make any sense, and the week we are entering into - the Holy week.
I will continue to wear the cross.
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