"Easter Caroling"

Today we will celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ in churches all around the world. It is the greatest day on the Christian calendar. Victory Day! The Resurrection of Christ is of utmost importance to our Christian faith (see 1 Corinthians 15). Jesus said (as recorded in John 14, "Because I live, you shall live also." That is good news indeed. There have been Holy Week services in communities all over the country this past week. Good Friday (the day Christ was crucified) was observed with reverence, and Sunrise Services will be held today. But something happened yesterday in Westmoreland, Ceredo, and South Point (OH) that I think has never happened here before.

Saturday marked what I believe to be the first "Easter Caroling" ever done in Huntington, WV. Everyone knows what Christmas Caroling is, but Easter Caroling? Who ever heard of that? Two years ago, I had casually mentioned in a sermon at Christmas time that we should also consider going house to house at Easter time to sing the wonderful news of the completion of God's plan of salvation. That was it. Just a blurb in a sermon. But apparently it struck a cord in someone's heart.

A few weeks ago, Becky Moses, one of our more creative church members, came to me with a proposal that we go "Easter Caroling" on the Saturday of Holy Week. We got the word out and invited everyone to come and help between 1:00 - 3:00 PM on Saturday. Well, several folks showed up in weather that was reminiscent of many Christmas Caroling outings we had done in the past. The only difference this time was that nobody invited us in for Cocoa! Becky worked with our church "Homebound Ministry Coordinator", Rachel Lackey, and put together an itinerary that took us from the church neighborhood, through Westmoreland, to Ceredo, WV, and finishing up at Rick Rakes' house in South Point, OH. The time went so quickly that we didn't have time to get to every home on the list, but to those we did carol, it was time well spent.

Our "Carolers" consisted of Becky Moses and her husband, Bob; Rachel Lackey; Debi Dean; Randy and Debbie Spurgeon; Darrell Clark; and myself. At South Point we were joined by Ronnie Mills, who had come to feed the fish at his vacationing son's house (next door to Rick's). We started by walking up the street to Frank and Delores Rutherford's home. Delores is bed ridden, but Frank braved the cold weather to come out on the porch and hear our repertoire. Then we loaded up the van and headed for Ceredo Manor (a highrise building for elderly residents) in Ceredo. Agnes Davenport came down to let us in and we serenaded her to the delight of Agnes and the small crowd who gathered in the lobby when they heard singing. From there we traveled a few blocks to the home of Bob and Garnet Bryant to sing to Garnet's sister Nada McKenzie. Nada was on oxygen and in a very weak condition, but she obviously enjoyed the songs and even mouthed some of the words herself. She thanked us for coming.

From Ceredo, it was back to Westmoreland where we stopped at the homes of Robert and Evelyn Bentle, Janet and Emory Thacker, and Fred and Ramah Harmon. Janet and her sister, Ruth (and Ruth's daughter) were quilting - and cooking a big ham for Easter Sunday. (It smelled pretty good in that house!). Well, the three ladies joined us as we sang to Emory, who sat in his recliner with one of the biggest smiles I have seen in a long time. In fact, Emory began to sing with us with perfect harmony. His tenor voice added a lot of quality to our efforts...

From there it was across the river to Rick Rakes' home. Rick is suffering from cancer and is having a pretty rough time right now. He sat in the doorway, and seemed to be delighted with our musical offerings. His wife, Meredith, had just left to take care of her elderly parents in East Huntington, so Rick called her on his cellphone and she listened too. (He said she gave us an "8").

The quality of our musical offerings was enhanced by Randy, Debbie, and Darrell. The rest of us just made a "joyful noise", but we all had a great time. More importantly than that, it seemed to bring joy to all of those whom we serenaded.

Now it comes to confession time. All this week, I have been stressed out. I've been incredibly busy, pressed for time, running up on important deadlines for several projects, and "less than pleasant" to be around. Honestly, I wondered if I could spare the two hours to go Easter Caroling. Well, I can tell you now, it was the best spent two hours of a very busy week. I am so thankful for Becky putting this thing together, and for Rachel and her ongoing work to bless so many people who are sick and homebound. I thank God for the folks who took a couple of hours out of their busy activities to bring a few minutes of joy to a number of folks who really needed it.

Furthermore, I am reminded about how just a random act of kindness can be a tremendous blessing to others.

We'll do this again!