Easter joy to you during these gorgeous Georgia days of spring.

The scene Monday night was all too familiar. At 6:10 PM, President Obama again stood before the cameras in the White House briefing room. I watched it on CNN. He looked tired and haggard, and he could not even look straight at the cameras. He struggled for words to let the American public know that we all grieve for the victims and their families in Boston, that he had been in touch with both the mayor of Boston and the governor of Massachusetts, and that he was making available to them whatever federal resources they might need. He also assured everyone that they will find out "who did this, why they did this," and justice will be served.

It just seems like it was a couple of weeks ago that he was again on camera trying to explain heartache and grief after the event at Sandy Hook. And wasn't it just last week that Suwanee made national news because some of our firefighters were held hostage at gunpoint?

Yesterday morning's newspaper headlines declared that the post 9/11 peace has been shattered. The point is that the bombs planted and detonated in Boston are different than a deranged gunman walking into an elementary school. Like the World Trade Center, the Boston Marathon is an American institution. When a deranged gunman opens fire in a theatre or a school, we call it mass murder. When bombs are set off at the end of a historic race, when they destroy property, burst ear drums, kill people and maim over a hundred others, we call it terrorism. The real weapon is not a couple of bombs. The real weapon is the spread of fear. Little wonder that the stock market had its biggest tumble in six months. Fear does that to people, even investors. Fear causes us to pause or question whether we can believe in the future.

So what's next? A bomb that goes off at the Five Points MARTA station? A bomb detonating during the 7^th inning stretch at Turner Field? This is what the cowards hope we think is next. The cowards who did this act in Boston not only killed and injured innocent people; they also rocked the financial world, sent the country on amber alert, got sporting events canceled, have the White House rearranging its agenda, and would like to have everyone in America looking over their shoulders. A culture of fear is what terrorists want to create.

The empty tomb gives us another narrative. It does not explain evil. It does not guarantee that you and I will be safe coming home after work. It does, however, tell us that love wins. It does tell us that God wins.

The story that belongs to the church is that Jesus was the ultimate casualty of terrorism. Those who sought to have Jesus destroyed worked the people up into a frenzy, a frenzy created by fear - fear that Jesus was overturning their sacred traditions and fear that Jesus would bring the wrath of the Romans down on them. Fear as much as hammers nailed him to the cross. Fear sent his closest followers running for cover and looking over their shoulders. Remember the scriptures tell us they went to hide behind locked doors "out of fear."

But love raised him up. The risen Jesus comes back - even to those who abandoned him and were culpable in his crucifixion - and declares peace to them. The empty tomb is a metaphor for what we can expect in all things. God wins. This is our hope.

So instead of looking over our shoulders out of fear, let us choose to look for the goodness of God in everyday life - the wonderful people who would rush in and try to save lives, the countless outpourings of love from kind, compassionate people that will overflow in these days, and people we meet every day who choose service above self, hope above despair, love over hate, forgiveness over a grudge, and who choose life over fear.

The theme for our youth retreat this weekend is "Choose Life." In light of Monday's events and the things that trouble our teenagers about which Epiphany has been speaking, I think this retreat is timely.

God loves you and I do too!