The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia.
Hope is one of Easter's themes. To paraphrase 1 Peter: through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead we are given a new birth into a living hope (1 Peter 1:3). A living hope strengthens us to endure while all things are being transformed.
This time of the year hints of transformation are all around. The sun is warm on my face despite a stubborn thermometer slow to creep out of single digits. A swelling choir of avian voices sings to the dawn. Icicles grow, water drips, spruce boughs sway free from their snowy restraints, things are moving. Even the snow in all it's depth hints at defeat as it yields under foot without the defiant crunch of midwinter. Hope. Spring. Easter.
I am hopeful that soon I will be able to visit communities in person. I miss that. Throughout the winter, I have made countless trips to the East side of the airport here in Fairbanks to shovel snow clear from the Episcopal Wings' parking place. I knew I wasn't going to be able to fly, but I did the work, I made the effort in hope, wanting to be ready as soon as it was possible to go. I was investing in the hope of the dawn of the post COVID-19 day. That day is coming.
We can all invest in the hope of the dawn of the post COVID-19 day by getting vaccinated. Getting the vaccine is an Easter thing to do. I received my second vaccine during Holy Week. It was part of my spiritual and physical preparation for Easter.
I was overjoyed when the eligibility restrictions to receive the vaccine were lowered here in Fairbanks. My age and my health status put me low on the initial priority list for the vaccine. It looked like I was going to have to wait until the end of May. We are very fortunate in Alaska to have sufficient quantities of the vaccine that now nearly everyone can get vaccinated.
I strongly urge everyone to get vaccinated.
Suzanne, Lynnette, Melissa, all of us at the Diocesan Office have been vaccinated. While we still follow our COVID-19 mitigation protocols for public space, we are ready, we are hopeful that it won't be long now. What has been true throughout this pandemic remains true now, we are in this together. Won't you please join me and invest in this Easter hope? Get vaccinated.
