Passover Week
On the Porch
Onisha Ellis
So much has happened this week it is hard for me organize my thoughts. Some impressions I am still internalizing. Maybe writing this blog will help to gel my thoughts.
For only the second time in history, the Jews in Israel have been told to stay inside their homes during a portion of Passover. Many found this to be significant.
If you aren’t aware of the history of Passover, it began in ancient times when the people of Israel were captive slaves in Egypt. The Egyptian Pharaoh refused to set them free even though God sent plagues to torment him. The final plague would take the lives of every first born unless the blood of a slaughtered spring lamb was painted on the doorposts of their homes.
From Wikipedia:
the Book of Exodus, God helped the Israelites escape from slavery in ancient Egypt by inflicting ten plagues upon the Egyptians before the Pharaoh would release the Israelite slaves. The last of the plagues was the death of the Egyptian first-born. The Israelites were instructed to mark the doorposts of their homes with the blood of a slaughtered spring lamb and, upon seeing this, the spirit of the Lord knew to pass over the first-born in these homes, hence the English name of the holiday.
Tuesday, we decided to join with the Jewish tradition and pray for the passing of the Coronavirus. Coincidence or God that all week the virus models of deaths has changed downward almost daily?
Passover occurs with the full moon. Tuesday night the news said the moon would be pink tinged. My daughter, Rebekah and I decided to drive down to the river for a better view. I love the river at night, especially with a breeze. It is peaceful yet empowering. The moon looked white to me but it was beautiful.
Wednesday we treated ourselves to dinner out. I am seriously tired of cooking. Dinner out was take out from the Moonlight Drive-In. I had planned to eat there but Rebekah and her dad voted to eat in the car by river. That evening we watched a live stream Seder. Rebekah participated in one last year, but this was our first experience. It was intriguing.
For a couple of days, my husband had been going through what I call a rough patch. I felt that if I could get him out of the house, he might perk up. Our daughter agreed to drive. Guess where we went? That’s right, the river. I thank God for the river. We found an unoccupied pavilion and covered the table with a nylon picnic blanket to protect us from germs than may have been lurking. It was warm but the breeze was nice and steady. The trip perked him up, his breathing settled down and we had a good evening.
The part of Passover week that I have been processing is what we did on Wednesday at noon. We received an email earlier in the week suggesting that as Joshua led the Jewish people to march around the city of Jericho for six days, then on the seventh day blow their shofars and shout, thus bringing down the city’s walls, that we could call out to the Lord in a similar manner to end the virus.
This was way outside of our comfort zone, but we felt we should participate. We downloaded a Shofar app onto our phones. Our daughter suggested we do this in our local hospital parking lot.
When we arrived at the hospital, there was a group of around 10-15 gathered. With social distancing in mind, we didn’t join them. (Also we are a family of fairly introverted people) As the clock moved to noon, the group began blowing their shofars, (They had the real thing and they were loud) We activated our apps and sounded the shofar and prayed. We prayed for the passing of the virus and claimed God’s glory and fire. We shouted victory over the virus as well as over the evils the have spread over the earth, lying, greed, murder, hatred and deception, I have never felt such emotion flooding my soul.
Matthew 18:20 says “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” He was there.
And then we got into our cars and went home.
I spent Good Friday enjoying messages from various churches and making a low carb chocolate raspberry cheesecake. As I write this blog I am listening to a live stream of Handel’s Messiah – Easter Concert with The Tabernacle Choir.
I almost forgot! Since our churches are not meeting physically our church staff made up these simple Easter bags and the pastor dropped them off at homes today. I was thrilled to discover a small bottle of hand sanitizer. I texted him that it was the best ever Easter bag!
Treats like these are usually taken to members who are homebound or as we used to say, shut-ins. We are all shut-ins now!
May your Easter be joyful.
UPDATE Florida Stay at Home allows for outdoor activity as long as social distancing is followed.
Old Things R New 
Thanks for this lovely post. My husband and I, after a lot of meals in, ordered a pizza this week. We almost inhaled it. I am still dreaming about it…it was that good! Yes, church and the Good News of Easter will not be postponed or cancelled because we can’t meet together; his Kingdom is within, and we can all gather together in spirit and worship.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’ve all had an eventful week with many enjoyable events. I hope your husband’s breathing is still okay and you have managed to keep away from the cooking. I thought of training Leo, my dog, to cook but even if he stands on his back legs he cannot reach the top, meaning I would have to get involved. Ah well, there are worse things in life–My wife might have a go—lolol Best wishes to your family.
Stay safe and keep well, Onisha
LikeLike
I saw your photo of Leo in your garden. He seemed happy to be outside. So far so good on the husband breathing.
LikeLike
This is one of the most enjoyable blogs I have ever read!
LikeLike
Aww… Thanks for the compliment. I think you may have been in the house too long. We have two Blue Jays coming to the feeder and I wonder if they are visiting from your back yard.
LikeLike