Resurrection is a common thing to talk about this time of year. Spring has begun and the world is waking from its winter slumber. We are in the middle of Lent, preparing for the power of the resurrection on Easter morning. But this year is different. As I’ve seen stated in one meme going around the internet: “I didn’t expect to give up so much for Lent!” We’ve given up closeness and touch; many have given up going too far from home; some have, unwillingly, given up jobs and the security of a regular income. Ezekiel 37 speaks of a promised return from exile, something we might better appreciate in the middle of this virus. Or as Jesus says about Lazarus, in John 11, we “will rise again." But the exile of Israel and the death of Lazarus have important lessons to teach us, and we must learn them while we still can. The questions we need to be asking are: What will we rise to when all is said and done? Who will we be on the other side of all of this? And what lessons must be learned from this time of exile?