Easter
On Holy Saturday my wife and I expanded our very small garden by digging up more grass and shaking the dirt out of it. It was a bit of a job. The plot, which is only about 9′ x 4′, slopes pretty sharply downhill so we leveled it some by adding dirt, placing landscaping timbers in strategic locations and using some bricks. We planted tomatoes, cucumbers and flower seeds as a start. However, on Easter Sunday we received an extended downpour and water, more like a river it appears, was funneled into our new garden in a way we did not anticipate. Half of the cucumber seeds and the mounds of dirt in which they were buried were washed out into the yard. All of the flower seeds on one side of the plot were washed away. Happy Easter.
That got me to thinking about what the world is like come Easter time. Around here, two of our people had to be taken to the hospital on Holy Saturday evening, which is actually Easter after sundown. Quite a few others who I can think of were not able to attend Easter services because of varying degrees of serious illness. Around this country people are still out of work and feeling helpless. Beyond our shores things remain bleak for millions.
So what is Easter to all of the people I refer to? Well, for me it has two meanings. One is that with resurrection we always have the possibility and opportunity to begin again. In the silly example of our small garden plot we can add more dirt, rechannel the flow of rain water, plant more seeds and likely will have a successful garden depending on God to ultimately supply the right amount of rain and sun. So it can be for those who have fallen on hard times. With faith in the risen Christ, help from their fellow man, in time, they will be able to pick themselves up and move forward again. There is always the chance to start over.
Easter also means that, in the words of Fredrick Buechner, the end is not death, the end is life. With the resurrection of Jesus God has taken away the sting of death. Thus, there is always hope; hope that there will be an absence of pain, suffering and tears. There is hope that once those who suffer now pass on to the other side they will be in the nearer presence of Christ and will be at rest and peace. So even though the world does not necessarily noticeably change on Easter Day, the change has already occurred. God has done a marvelous thing. Death, destruction and evil have been conquered. Now that truth does allow me to say Happy Easter.
One Comment on “Easter”
Leave a Reply
Your reply will be reviewed before it is made public.
Trina Tilson said:
I am reading this several hours after receiving word that a very dear friend of mine , Rayner, passed away. It is a comfort to remember that she is in the nearer presence of God.