Essential Church Services
The good reverend of the Little Church of the Ravine is standing up for his belief that his flock should be allowed to congregate for Easter services under Freedom of Religion. Pastor Paul told the assembled fellowship this past Sunday that he felt Rome should keep its nose out of God’s business and God will keep his nose out of theirs. “If prayer in this time of Pandemic isn’t essential,” the minister declared, slapping his well-worn leather-bound King James, “then I surely do not know what is. If the Bud Hut can remain open to sell Satan’s marijuana merchandise, how is it that this church of God is considered dangerous?” A hundred amens rang out in the old steepled church.
Well, I don’t have a great answer to the Bud Hut burning question of the day, but … most of us South Enders are quarantined up, avoiding friends and family, shopping once a week with masks and gloves. It’s not like the virus is epidemic down here. Yet. But why take chances? Even the South End String Band quit practicing together, not because we were worried about achieving early perfection, but after that choir up in Mt. Vernon gathered together to sing joyful noises and ended up with 3 dead, 4 in intensive care and two dozen infected, we thought practicing at home by ourselves might make more sense. Thankfully none of us have suggested Zoom for cyber practicing. A little hiatus will be just fine.
Easter is this weekend and even though the President once told the True Believers the pandemic would be over by then and businesses would open, it doesn’t look at this point that this will come to pass. Except for the Little Church of the Ravine, looks like. I guess these folks and Pastor Paul aren’t watching secular news from the temporal world. That, or they assume the Good Lord will be watching out for them. I kinda worry She may not be watching out for the rest of us, maybe bring plague to our neighborhood through the Typhoid Marys of their little church. Plus it sets a bad example for the sports zealots who want nothing more than to get back to basketball tournaments and baseball openers. You want True Believers, check out the Pilot Lounge down at the South End Marina on any given weekend before the Pandemic shut it down. They’d be willing to risk a virus or two and maybe the bubonic plague to congregate once again in front of that 52 inch big screen TV over the bar. Half of the boyz think the alcohol in their glass is better preventative than hand sanitizers. They figure Pastor Paul is passing out sacramental wine he buys from the liquor store. Another essential business, they notice. Churches and bars, open up them pearly gates!
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Tags: Covid-19 is Risen this Easter, Easter Coronavirus Worship Services, Easter Miracles in Plague Time
Jesus, as I recall, healed the sick.
So I find it somewhat inconsistent that many pastors and preachers want to pack their congregants into pews like sardines and expose the flock to a virus which could kill them. Maybe they haven’t heard about students at Liberty University, or the deadly choir practice?
Thoughts and prayers.
Thoughts and prayers.
These are earthly concerns, not worth bothering with when you’re doing the Lord’s work. It does seem worth mentioning that She might have sent this virus to us as a test of faith. Throw the dice, I say, and see if the test was for their faith or maybe just the wrath of a pissed off God. I suspect this is like those tornadoes that wreak havoc on a congregation’s town and the survivors who were spared see it as confirmation of the Lord’s beneficence. The unlucky few who weren’t spared, of course, get hurled straight to Heaven (hopefully) or Hell (total Bummer). Throw the dice, it’s all a win/win for the Faithful, right? See ya in church tomorrow!!