By Barb and Randy Sutter

In the recent past, it has been a challenge to fully take up the traditions of this time of year, of Passover and Easter. It has been hard to step outside of our lives, so full of worldly distractions and self-gratification, and truly focus on remembrance, on reflection, and on gratitude to a power greater than ourselves.

This year has been different. There is little to distract us from the barrage of dark news. There is little gratification in the austerity of our social isolation.

Perhaps more than ever, this is the time for remembrance of the hardships that our forebears encountered. This is the time to reflect on the freedoms that we take for granted, on the personal responsibilities that we ignore while insisting on our rights.

Now is the time to pray to our God for his mercy, that He will give us the strength to stay the course and to help us meet the challenges that we are facing.
Those that are continuing to work at critical jobs deserve our sincere thanks. May we all commit to reflect in our conduct and in our action a caring attitude toward our neighbors.

Let us look forward to greeting each other warmly when we all emerge from this sad chapter, hopefully having learned something positive that we can incorporate in our lives as we get back on track.