“How did you get in?”
Harold Racine was dumbfounded and asked this question when his daughter Lisa showed up in his room at Good Samaritan Society – Stillwater in Minnesota.
Lisa had gotten a part-time job in the kitchen at the Stillwater center — in addition to her full-time employment — as a way to see her father, even with COVID-19 visitor restrictions in place.
Harold and Lisa told their story to KARE11 news, in addition to dozens of other news outlets including MSNBC, FOX News and People Magazine.
Nearly one year into the pandemic, the story of Harold and Lisa’s separation had a surprise ending.
And so it is with the Easter story: a surprise ending to a sad story.
It was a story of death and suffering that first Easter. Three days before the women visited the tomb (John 20:1-18), they had witnessed the public execution of their teacher and friend, Jesus the Messiah. They visited the tomb to anoint their Lord’s body with fragrant oils. Instead, they found the stone rolled away. The body of Jesus was gone.
It’s a surprise ending. It is the ultimate surprise ending of our faith — because it is, in fact, not the end but the beginning. It is a story of a love — God’s love — that will stop at nothing to bring life and hope in the midst of death.
Lisa and Harold’s story so beautifully embodies the resurrection: a journey of incarnate love that rolls up its sleeves, and a surprise ending to separation.
Theirs is just one of the Easter stories around the Good Samaritan Society. Every day, our team members share God’s love through the work of health, healing and comfort, and in so doing they embody the resurrection. Week after week, we are witnessing the long-awaited end to a year of death and despair. Residents and employees are experiencing the physical and emotional freedom offered by life-saving vaccines. Families are reuniting. Laughter and dancing are returning to our centers.
Never has the end of a story been so welcome. Never has an ending also had such a profound beginning.
God’s richest graces to you this Easter season from all of us at the Good Samaritan Society. May you join this story of God’s new life unfolding all around us.
