The message of Easter is that of Resurrection and New
Life! Appropriately celebrated at the beginning of spring,
we need only to look around us to see evidence of new life
emerging from the dark. The cold and drear of New
England winter gives way to the sunshine and warmth
needed for colors to pop, grass to grow and flowers to open
more each day. Truly our God is awesome in all he has
done for us!
I often wonder if those who live in more temperate
areas of the country, or of the world for that matter, can
truly appreciate the change of seasons. Can one really feel
the difference when spring arrives, if one has not
experienced the real death of winter? Is the shift in moods
associated with longer days and brighter sunshine evident
when one has not experienced long nights and too much
darkness? Does the smell of spring rain evoke the same
feeling of refreshment and life when those rains are no
different from any other during the year?
My own answer to any of the above is a resounding
“no”, because, for me, the appreciation of anything I have
in life is far richer if I have a sense of its very absence. I
believe that I am only now beginning to understand what
the new life in Christ can mean, and only because I am
more aware of the value of my present life. Every death I
experience, or change in my life brings me closer to
actually letting go of things I have no right holding onto.
My very definition of what “life” should be, and the signs I
seek to tell me that it is worth living, is constantly
changing. I believe it is evolving into something much more
real. I seem to need less in terms of material things to
make me happy, and more of such things as time spent
with someone I care about. My “need” for worldly success,
as defined by the world itself, lessens as I become more
confident in my value in God's eyes. Each act of kindness,
forgiveness or mercy received humbles me to see more of
what I could be offering others. And the blessings once
ignored in pursuit of what present society tells me should
be important, come into brilliant focus.
Easter is indeed a time to celebrate new life, both the
life won through Christ's own sacrifice - a life which will be
lived for all eternity, and the life that we now live, seen
through fresh eyes and with renewed perspective. This is
the time when we as people of faith are called to face the
fears we know all too well with courage, the anxieties with
patience, and even death and disease with hope. Easter
reminds us that just as Christ is victorious over everything
experienced in this life, we too have that same victory.
Sacrifice and suffering is necessary to truly appreciate
such blessing, and only when we face the dark of this life
can we see the light of the next.
