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“He will
destroy the shroud that is cast over all people. Unbind him and
let him go.”
I wonder what
a shroud is. I think that it might be something that covers or
hides you. It may be something dark and sad and it could be a
feeling or it could be something you wear.
This is . . .
Elizabeth! And this is Elizabeth’s mother, Mrs. Mawakasunga and
this is Mrs. Mawakasunga’s older sister, Aunt Gertrude.
You know
sometimes dark sad things can happen. Not to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth is a happy little girl with a wonderful life. But to
Mrs. Mawakasunga and to Aunt Gertrude, many, many years ago in
Tanzania . . . Elizabeth never heard the stories . . . maybe
some day when she is much older.
When Aunt
Gertrude and Mrs. Mawakasunga were just little girls, first
their father died and then their mother died. They were so
young to be orphans all alone. That is when the sad dark time
came. Because Aunt Gertrude was the older sister, she protected
her younger sister, sometimes at great cost to herself. Aunt
Gertrude was a wonderful big sister who loved Mrs. Mawakasunga
very, very much!
Now that Aunt
Gertrude and Mrs. Mawakasunga are all grown up, they never talk
about that dark, sad time, partly because they each hope the
other one has forgotten about it and partly because, in a way,
they HAVE forgotten. Except deep down, they each DO remember.
Some grownups
have things they never talk about. It can feel like a shroud
that covers them. So it is for Aunt Gertrude.
In today’s
lessons, we hear the promise that God will lift the shroud that
covers all people. In fact, he will MORE than lift it, he will
DESTROY it.
So, when I
look at the ugly thing on Aunt Gertrude’s head, I think it is
like a sad, dark shroud that she wears.
Today, Christ
says to Aunt Gertrude “UNBIND HER AND LET HER GO! I WILL
DESTROY THIS SHROUD THAT HAS BEEN CAST OVER HER.”
(Remove the
shroud from Aunt Gertrude. Replace with a new hat. Hold up the
shroud and look at it closely, then rip it into pieces and place
in the little trash can.)
LET US BE
GLAD AND REJOICE! THE END
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