Wishing everyone the joy of hope this Easter

This year, more than ever, Easter arrives both resonant and relevant, prompting us to consider the costs of human folly and delusion and what a second chance should look like.

 

Easter is one of the most important dates on the Christian calendar. It celebrates Jesus’ resurrection three days after his crucifixion. It is mainly about sacrifice, relationships in all their forms, and the renewal of a world gone awry. Above all, it offers hope and opportunity after a period of profound pain, loss, and sorrow.

 

Two millennia after, the COVID-19 crisis has delivered, along with its human and economic ravages, a season of wholesale soul-searching. It has created an enforced period of stillness. It has encouraged contemplation. Not least of all, it has inspired an assessment of what’s essential and what’s not.

 

All around the world, as nations cope with the pandemic that has killed millions and idled the global economy, people have had a chance to evaluate their most fundamental values.

 

Communities have gathered virtually around shared values of compassion, equality. Neighbors are looking out for neighbors. Overwhelmingly, men and women have sought something beyond self-interest, something greater than themselves. In many respects, the best of humanity has been on display by the mutual support, the first responders’ sacrifice, so many of us can continue to live our lives safely.

 

Easter is not about going back to the old normal but moving forward; it shows life goes beyond the material realm. It’s a call to the need to be better, live better, love more. It announces new opportunities, a chance to discard old grudges, prejudices, and wrong behaviors.

 

Mary Gordon has written that. To her, the resurrection message is not whether it happened or not but that it insists on the importance of life over death. She said:

“For me, the meaning of the Resurrection is the possibility of possibility.”

 

Have a blessed Easter!

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