Each year on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring
equinox, we commemorate the resurrection of Jesus, the Christ and mark it as
the day that Jesus conquered death. How
often in celebrating this Easter event, have we taken the time to reflect on
what this means for us in our daily lives?
In celebrating the resurrection, we are greatly tempted to keep it locked
away as an historic event isolated to Jesus and his disciples and perhaps only
relevant to us at the time of our physical death. While hope of eternal life provides comfort,
we have forgotten is that in calling ourselves an "Easter people", we are
claiming the resurrection to be a miracle that is present to us in each and
every moment of each and every day!
It was of this invitation that Paul reminded the Colossians, "Brothers
and sisters; If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above. Think of
what is above, not of what is on earth."
(Col 3: 1-4) I once had a great teacher put
it to me this way, "In every loss, we have two choices - we can choose death or
we can choose life. Jesus' resurrection
reminds us that in every death there is new life waiting to be revealed. The question is do we have the eyes to see
and the faith to believe?"
The early disciples struggled with this choice. For many, Jesus' death became a means to an
end. In their blindness to the resurrection and to the promise of new life,
they perceived that the door to their hopes and dreams had now been
closed. They departed in despair. For others, while their eyes may have
initially been closed, they eventually became opened to belief in the promise
of new life and accepted this as a new opportunity for healing, growth and
transformation. Upon accepting the
promise of new life, they moved forward in hope. And finally, there were those chosen few who
not only had willing eyes to see but the enduring faith to believe. They saw
the empty tomb or the risen Christ and believed! They immediately accepted the new life that
lay before them and moved into that new life with great enthusiasm.
The choice of the disciples in our choice as well: Death or life, despair,
hopefulness or enthusiasm - the choice is ours.
And, we are human! In other
words, there will be times in our lives that death will be our choice, along
with despair. It is here that the words
of the psalmist provide us comfort, "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
his mercy endures forever!" (Psalm
118) Let us be open to have eyes to see and the faith to believe and when we
find that we cannot, let us be open to God's enduring mercy that brings healing
and comfort to our wounded hearts.
Happy Easter!
