Thankful for… the gift of Easter

On Easter Sunday, I was remarking to the kids that despite being a more significant day than Christmas, there isn’t the atmosphere of great rejoicing and ‘feel-good’ happy feelings associated with Christmas. How ironic. #1 sagely replied that it was the secularism of Christmas, the beautiful lights, carols, and presents which added to the mood.

After the service on Good Friday, one of them asked me a question I had never thought about. She understood the part about Jesus having to die for us, but why did he have to die such a horrible death? Couldn’t it be quick and easy? All I could say was that sadly, people could be extremely cruel and heartless.

It brought us back to what is happening today, all the brutality and hatred in the world that we have been reading about. It is indeed a difficult world for children to comprehend.

So what is Easter really about? Yes, the kids know the whole story of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and the promise of eternal salvation for us Christians. But the significance is as vague to them as chocolate eggs and Easter egg hunts.

I shared with them an experience I had volunteering in the hospice.

One of the patients had been getting weaker and one day, I fed him his lunch. I was surprised that such a simple experience had a profound impact on me.

It was not as easy as I thought it would be. It was literally a dance to fit your pace to his swallowing, to put the right amount of food on the spoon and to ensure he doesn’t choke. As he finished the last bit of porridge, I exclaimed, “Good boy!”

He managed a slight smile and gestured with his fingers. Me, 6. Him, 7.

Ah! He said he was my 7th child.

At that instant, something struck me.

Here was a stranger I have only recently met, a grandpa to his grandchildren. And yes, in many ways, he was like a child. Dependent, needing to be protected, loved.

Outwardly, we may look different. But we are all the same. If we but look to make that connection with others, our families, our friends, other people’s children, neighbors, colleagues, even strangers, then Easter is not just an event or a season. It is more than that.

I guess the gift of Easter is a time to contemplate the deeper meaning of Christ’s love for us and how we can go out to love and serve one another. To touch more lives. To use our God-given talents to uplift others.

We should be proud to be joyful Easter people.