We're not quite out of the wilderness yet. Presumably to accommodate people watching the livestream, our church's Easter Vigil didn't, as was our wont before the pandemic, start in darkness, with the flame of a single candle lit at the baptismal font at the entrance gradually spreading to tapers held by all present and providing just enough light for the readings and responses of the vigil - until, as we switched to the first eucharist of Easter, the lights came on, revealing a flower-bedecked church, bells came out and the organ, which had been silent for Holy Week, lead the congregation in Handel's "Halleluiah Chorus," a dazzling transformation.
Instead, the lights were on but dimmed and everything happened in the altar area where our streaming service could share it: its cameras are in the choir loft above the entrance and remotely controlled, and wouldn't have been able to show any of the candle-lit activity around the baptismal font below. And, for some other reason, no tapers and no Handel! So it wasn't quite the triumphant return to tradition I'd been looking forward to. But other returns almost made up for it. Incense, expertly swung by a thurifer in a jingling thurible, brought tears (of joy!) to my eyes. And after the service we had our first shared food and drink since March 2020, and the conviviality that brings: masks removed for eating, we saw each other's faces! Resurrection takes work.
