Easter Reflections

Friday evening I was driving down the single lane of a street near my home, the other lane now occupied by a 10 foot deep by 6 foot high dike, looking ahead to a reduced stress weekend. Over the last month, the weekends have included preparations for the first crest, the first crest, and last weekend's dire predictions by the National Weather Service for the second crest. This weekend is a breather because the river bottomed out at 31 feet and started its rise to a predicted lower crest of 39.3 feet next weekend. Dikes are in place, so it is mainly waiting and watching the river rise. Besides our current flood stress, there is the continued downward trend in the economy which hasn't bottomed out yet.

In thinking about my flood and economic stress, I was reminded it hasn't gotton to the point that I'm sweating drops like blood as Christ did while praying before his arrest. I was also reminded during my Good Friday commute home that I don't have to sweat the eternal stuff because of Christ's crucifiction. And finally, I was reminded I don't have the sweat of dispair because of the hope from Christ's resurrection which I'm celebrating with family and friends today.