House

I will enter your house . . . !

 - From Psalm 66

It is Sunday morning. Today, across the land, churches will begin opening back up, with restrictions in place, to keep everything in line with what the State has directed. Not since the heady days of the Holy Roman Empire, has Church been so dutifully compliant.

Well, not all churches. Many are opening up, despite the pronouncements of those with temporary authority over the workings of government. Especially in California, where defiance is becoming a thing.

We have been told to "Stay safe. Stay at home." During the centuries of America expanding westward, those on the edges of the frontier always did so at great risk. If the Native Americans weren't unwelcoming, then perhaps bands of violent ruffians gave them trouble. Or if they survived that, the elements would work to destroy their crops, strand them in their homes in the winter time, or flood them out.

But if that weren't enough, mysterious sicknesses would make the rounds with regularity. A plague called the "milk sick" could wipe out entire families.

But still they pushed west. Freedom, and a chance to own property that can feed your family, community, and the world, made it all worthwhile. They paid a very high price: life itself, in order to live a life with great value.

But even in their own homes . . . miles away from any other human, they frequently faced horrifying peril. "Stay at home" isn't always "stay safe." And our ancestors knew this all too well. They faced horrors to make COVID-19 seem like a bad cold (if it doesn't already seem like that).

But - stay at home. Sounds good.

Throughout my life, I have heard preachers call the Church "family," and the church facility "God's house." We belong together, and our One Place to Go, if everything else topples all around us, is the Church. I always told my kids - - - if there's a catastrophe locally and we cannot communicate; get to the church. I'll see you there, and others will be there to help.

Stay at home . . . . Go to church?

I'm surprised someone hasn't thought of that already.