April 7th, 2026

Hi Friends,

Despite the fact that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, I’m beginning to wonder if he loves me or my wife. You see, the bible also says that the Lord gives sleep to those he loves (Psalm 127:2) and that something will be confirmed by the mouth of two or three witnesses. So, let me tell you what happened just prior to Easter in our house.

It was early morning Thursday and we had gone to bed Wednesday night, tired after what had been a busy day, emotionally down as we contemplated Jesus’ betrayal and arrest. At 3:44 a.m. all hell broke loose, or so it seemed. Our CO/smoke alarms went off — all five of them — and the screeching was unnerving, to say the least. After composing myself and realizing that I could only reach one of the five (we have 10-12 foot ceilings in our house), I was able to deactivate the alarms and we went back to bed, sleeping fitfully from that point on.

Thus, we were more tired as we slept our way into Good Friday and more in need of rest. We got it, till 4:47, when the whole fiasco repeated itself that next night. On the positive side, it took me less time to deactivate the system this time. I went back to sleep once more.

We went to bed on Good Friday night and I had a plan. I had not reactivated the system. We would have an uninterrupted sleep. And we did, until 6:47 a.m. when our front doorbell sounded and kept sounding until I got up and unplugged it from the wall. Despite the hour and the frustration, I had to laugh. I mean, seriously — three nights in a row; two different alarm systems. You see why I began to wonder?

It’s enough to unsettle a person! What could be causing this? There was no smoke in the house and the only carbon monoxide produced in our house is from the on-demand hot water heater (which, needless to say, was not functioning in the wee hours of the morning). As to the doorbell system, unless one of the jackrabbits or feral cottontails that frequent our alley had learned to jump three feet into the air and push a door bell button, I had no explanation.

I thought of Easter as I’ve been contemplating this mystery. There are some mysterious things about the resurrection (How can a human die and then live again?) but there is no mystery about the facts. Jesus lived. Jesus taught. Jesus was arrested, tried, condemned, crucified and buried in a borrowed tomb. All the religious leaders knew the tomb — they had set a guard at it to prevent the very thing that ultimately happened. If the tomb wasn’t empty, they could have walked right to it and shown the body to “the faithful.” But nothing like that happened. What’s more, the cowardly, hiding disciples were changed into the kind of people who almost all gave their lives for the One they claimed was resurrected.

I can’t explain the mystery of our electrical problems but I’ll get that sorted. A long time ago, this cynic came to the conclusion that Jesus was resurrected. It has made all the difference in the way I have chosen to live. It’s not enough to acknowledge or celebrate Easter; we have to live it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, part of that living for me is to figure out a faulty alarm system. 

Blessings!

Doug