It’s Sunday morning and the faithful have gathered. The combination of Easter and school spring break creates a little different mix of people in the pews. I’m n0ticing the predictable in the schedule for the service—the call and response of “Christ is risen!” followed by “He is risen indeed!” and the singing of “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today.” I’m not sure if today should be a whoop and holler celebration of the resurrection or if it should be a deep, mind-bending look at a profound, water-shed moment in religious history.

And now we are singing and I’m looking at the couple in front of me and to my left. “From life’s first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. No power of hell, no scheme of man [or disease], Can ever pluck me from his hand, ’Til he returns or calls me home, Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.”

This is not the same kind of celebration as the game-winning shot in the final seconds.