Sandy can be forgetful.   So I’m enlisting you, dear readers, to remind her when the time comes, that I want “O, for a Thousand Tongues to Sing” as the closing hymn sung at my funeral.  There are lots of verses, but be sure to include this one.  Because of its ‘ableist’ language, you will have to copy it out of an older hymnal:
Hear him ye deaf, his praise ye dumb,
Your loosened tongues employ.
Behold, ye blind, your Savior comes,
And leap ye lame for joy.
The deafer I get, the creakier and slower I move, the slower I think, and the more I struggle for names of things and people I know well, the more this verse appeals to me.

Even when I was unmarked by the passage of years, I knew I wanted this sung at my funeral.  To me, it encapsulates the hope of life beyond this mortal plane.  All the brokenness and deficiencies of our lives will be healed and transcended. 

But let me be clear, I don’t think that the hope of a resurrection body is just restoration of what the ravages of destiny and time have done to diminish our earthly bodies.  The promise of scripture is not restoration, but new creation.  What we will be like is more a matter for imagination than recollection.

God’s promise is resurrection, not resuscitation.

When we’re hurting and scared, our deepest desire is to put things back the way they were.  Restoring that which was lost seems like plenty to hope for, but God promises more than restoration.  God offers revolution.

Right now, most of us would be quite happy to have things back the way they were: to venture in public without masks; to watch the Bills with our friends without endangering their health; to shake hands and hug; to sing in church.  Our fondest hopes are for a return to normal.  But the old normal is not coming back.  When the vaccine is distributed and all the restrictions are lifted, even then, some things will be different – changed forever. 

We will be different too.

If we allow it, we can be better, more thankful, more loving, kinder.

Prayer:  Redeemer, don’t put me back the way I was; make me as I was always meant to be.  Amen.