Connecting with the Creator when all the churches are closed

It’s a perplexing Easter Sunday for most people in Northeast Mississippi. For the first time since Christians settled in Mississippi in the 19^th century, there will be no gatherings in Christian churches to celebrate the Resurrection. No Easter egg hunts or big family gatherings with ham and group photographs. A lot of homes and most churches are decorated and landscaped with spring blossoms.

Many churches will “stream” their services on the Internet, but it’s not the same.

Yet, the need is greater than any time in memory for people of all faiths to ponder their relationship to nature’s God and their humanity, their place in the cosmos.

Thus, yesterday was an ideal day, both as to timeliness and weather, to visit Ingomar Mounds in Union County, about two miles north of the Pontotoc County line.

Saturday of Easter weekend, a time of spiritual renewal; partly cloudy skies with temperature in the 60s; and a place in Northeast Mississippi where human beings built and lived at least as early as 2,200 years ago, perhaps earlier.

Archaeologists refer to the pre-historic people who first occupied the Ingomar site as being of the “Woodland Period,” a generic anthropological classification of pre-historic North American cultures. The Woodland Period spanned 20 centuries, from about 1,000 B.C. to 1,000 A.D. They were builders of a variety of earthen mounds, of many shapes and sizes. Mississippi State University archaeologists carbon dated an item excavated at the Ingomar mound as being from 200 A.D.

The natural terrain of the area is relatively flat for several hundred yards all around the mounds. There were once several visible mounds at Ingomar. Most have been worn down and obscured by agriculture and erosion over time. However, one large mound, roughly conical in shape and 20 feet high is still prominent. A variety of mature hardwood trees and a few cedars grow on the Ingomar mound. The top is flat, elliptical in shape and about 200 feet long at its greatest dimension.

Archaeologists believe the mounds were built for many purposes, including burial, defense, residential and cosmological or religious. People have likely been wondering at and connecting with the universe for thousands of years at the Ingomar Mounds and other similar sites.

The mound site is owned by the Archaeological Conservancy, but the Union County Heritage Museum and the Union County government maintain it. Larry Jarvis, who works for the county government, does a conscientious job of maintenance, including mowing, at the Ingomar site. The mowing is carefully done to encourage the propagation and preservation of large patches of Crimson Clover that bloom in north Mississippi every April.

Right now, the site is awash with the Crimson Clover and with the many hues of green that come each year with spring’s renewal.

So Easter may be different this year, but it is not forgotten, or even postponed. In fact, it may turn out to be the most memorable Easter many of us have ever had. It is certainly a time for somber, but grateful reflection on the renewal around us.

Creation is dynamic and continuous, and every sentient creature can find connection with the Creator.