I write this as we enter Holy Week. Good Friday is on the horizon and the Resurrection, the most profound gift in human history, follows three days later. Many of us, and billions of others the world over, treasure Easter as the highest, holy day of the year.
The explosion of Spring foliage serves as a triumphant announcement of Easter. From the beautiful flowers at the Norton Art Gallery, the stunning roses of the coming Kentucky Derby, as well as the Cherry Blossoms to bloom in the Tidal Basin in D.C where I lived and worked for years, the change of seasons is unmistakable.
It is this beautiful pageantry of Spring growth in contrast to the, at times, gray and forlorn winter season that encourages us and renews us. At the heart of that renewal is Easter.
This stunning seasonal transformation serves as a rebuke to the strife, struggle and darkness that exist in our nation and world. And, as contradictory and paradoxical as it may seem, it is in our awareness and recognition of that rebuke that our hope lies.
How can that be? How can we find peace and renewal by recognizing that we live in a harsh and fallen world?
Because, without the awareness that we actually have very little control over this life, we would likely never turn our attention and focus to God. To Christ.
Rather, we would continue to attempt to “gut it out” by trying to walk through life laboring to solve the often-overwhelming problems in our individual lives, by ourselves. In our own power. Which will never work.
We have finite minds and very limited ability to direct life’s events. God possesses an infinite mind and has unlimited ability to direct life’s events.
That recognition is what Easter represents to me and multitudes across our planet and that is one of the most reassuring and encouraging beliefs we could ever hold. It’s NOT all on us. It couldn’t possibly be. The burdens of this life are not intended to be carried by us alone. We shouldn’t try.
That is the central but simple message of Christ: He died for our inevitable sins, and we are freed of them. Our only obligation is to, through our devoted prayers and faithful adherence, accept him as our Savior and call upon him. That is all.
It is only in the acknowledgement of Christ’s promise that we may be truly renewed. It is the only way to be genuinely hopeful and encouraged about this life. In this way we are truly free to begin, again.
I hope we are all blessed this Easter season by and through that renewal. Happy Easter!
Shreveport attorney, Royal Alexander, worked in D.C. in the U.S. House of Representatives for nearly 8 years for two different Members of Congress from Louisiana.