My “succinct” entry on Easter Sunday was anything but succinct (surprise surprise) but even so I have one thing I have to add about the morning. I talked about “Resurrection” and what a cherished Easter tradition that has become at Holy Communion. Last year was the first Easter after Pastor Kris Capel left Holy Communion for a new call in the Twin Cities, and as much as there was to enjoy musically at her enormous and dynamic new church, she really missed HC and what we did. So she and Kate Barrow concocted a sneaky plan- that Kate would call Pastor Kris on her cell phone right before we sang “Resurrection” and would then hold up the cell phone so Kris could hear this song and at least to that extent still enjoy that little bit of unique Easter joy. So that’s what they did- and it must have been fun for Kris because she arranged for the same thing to happen this Easter.
What made it even funnier was that a few minutes before that, my wife’s cell phone rang – or vibrated, to be perfectly correct – and it was her dear friend Val Conner calling from Florida, where she is visiting her mother (who I believe might be recovering from surgery.) As glorious as it had to be for her to be sunning herself by the pool – while we were still using our snow blowers around here – Val was really sad to be missing Easter at HC, and especially sad to be missing Kathy singing “Resurrection.” So she called, K chatted with her for a minute or two, and then passed the phone off to Joleen Carlson, who held it up so Val could eavesdrop on “Resurrection” being sung by her good buddy.
There was something rather surreal about doing this song while two different cell phones transmitted the performance to Minnesota and Florida, respectively. I couldn’t help but marvel at the technology that makes such a thing possible- and marveled even more at how much these two women wanted to be with us Easter Sunday and found a way to do just that.
pictured above: a full house at Holy Communion, Easter ‘08