Easter…for me.

It’s been over a week since I’ve posted. Easter Day has come, and is gone, but the season of Easter on the Christian calendar continues. It is the time of the year when Christians contemplate the meaning of Easter. What does “resurrection” mean in our lives? What is “the good news” that the church blabs on about, while mostly demonstrating bad news!

I make sense of this stuff this way: Resurrection was and is demonstrated in the life of Jesus’ friends after the discovery of an empty tomb. Whether or not you can believe in a physical return to life, there is no denying the ‘new life’ of that dispirited community. This still happens. Our neighbours demonstrate it: joyful Christians filled with generosity.

Good news? There are at least two kinds in the New Testament. Paul says the good news is that because Jesus dies and came back to life, he has erased the anger God had toward fallen humans. Funny…I never felt God’s anger. Only God’s care and love. This one is number two for me. The good news as expressed by Jesus, and shared by his friends in their “memoirs”- gospels, is that God’s Kingdom has come near…is in fact in our midst. And we are all invited to join i. To do that, we are urged to live by what Jesus called “the Royal Law.” That’s found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 22:  Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.”

Love God…love neighbor (those people around you)…and love yourself  (care for yourself). Period. Now that’s good news, as far as I’m concerned, simple, inviting, and possible. All that is required is that we live this way, as best we can, and we live in the realm where God rules.

As I proceed in recovery from my various health crises, I have reflected on these words a lot. They have increasing meaning for me, and I find motivation in them for living. I have no idea yet what my “living” is to be about, but I can wait. I’m sure that will come. Anyway, for those of your who identify with the Christian community – “Happy Easter!” For those whose religious focus is different, Give yourself to yourself and to others, and God will be honoured. You will also be blessed, because you will live in a lighter and brighter world!