This holy time for us has been very quiet. Not a lot of Yippeees!!! and Hot Dogs!!!!!!!!!, but plenty of rejoicing.

Thursday night was Maundy Thursday (the night of the last Supper and Christ's agony in the garden of Gethsemane. I'ts a special night for my wife and I, and we would have gone to a special service in the small church we go to, but it was Gospel Messengers practice night at our house. It had been a hard day. Joe's (our bass singer) Corrie has Alzhemier's and it's been a nightmare for Joe. He was such under such a great stress that a few of weeks ago after his wife had kept up up for two or three consecutive nights, his heart stopped. His daughter found him sitting upright in a chair, and called EMS. They cut his clothes off then they arrived, and got his hearts started, and got him breathing again. Our singing has taken on a deeper meaning for us, since that happened. On Wednesday, the day before Maundy Thursday, Corrie was having chest pains, and they were monitoring her carefuly. Joe was running around all day, Thursday. He had a last minute meeting with their doctor, and for awhile it looked like he wouldn't be able to come up to our house for practice. He finally got out of the meeting, picked up our new tenor, Joe T. and Frankie and drove through horrendous traffic to get up here. Ruth always sets a bountiful table for practice nights, and before we ate, I read some of the scripture relating to Maundy Thursday. It was a serious, quiet time of reflection for all of us. As we sat there, the power of Christ's words that night hit home:

"A new commandment I give unto you; that ye love one another as I have loved you. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if you have love one to another."

These are hard times for Joe and the Messengers, but joyful times, too. I've told our two new members that the hardest harmony to find is spiritual harmony. And it is growing in all of us.

I have great spiritual harmony with my son from Ruth's first marriage. Pasha is muslim, but we have a close spiritual harmony that is not limited because of religious beliefs. As I do with my son who is Agnostic, and friends who are Atheists.

Saturday, Our daughter from Ruth's first marriage, Dee and her granddaughter who she is raising dropped by. We had a big pot of chili left from the Messengers practice, and another big pot of Split Pea Soup that I'd made, so we sat around the kitchen table and had lunch together. Shortly after that, Pasha and his wife Nina came by, and we had a wonderful Easter Saturday together. Ruth had a lousy cold, but she managed to get through the day pretty good.

During the night, last night, I woke up and went and sat in my recliner that Ruth bought for me and spent a couple of hours in quiet reflection about ressurection. Whatever anyone's beliefs, I think that we all have a deep-seated desire for a personal ressurection.. To be lifted out of the life we've messed up, so that we can start a new one. Ruth woke up at 2:30, coughing and feeling miserable and never went back to bed.

This morning, "going to" church was out of the question. So we had a little church of our own. No Pomp, but abundant circumstances. I read scripture from the bible recounting the resurrection. This Easter was simple, and rich. Sometimes, having "church" with the ones you love, in simplicity, is the best of all.

Jerry