Easter and the Impossible

Life Starts in the garden.

Vegetables and flowers push through the dirt and change the environment with their presence. It's where life happens.

The story of the Bible begins in a garden, and after his resurrection, Jesus makes his first appearance in a garden. We celebrate this event at Easter.

What does Easter mean?

Easter promises that Death and Despair do not have the last word in the story. Rob Bell once said, "Despair is the spiritual disease of believing that tomorrow will be a repeat of today."

Easter is the cure to that spiritual ailment. Our creator crafted a world imbued with generative power.

Life is possible.

Joy lies ahead.

The world ahead will be better.

Impossible is a go-to word.

We use the word frequently and almost flippantly.

The word impossible is weighty and unyielding. I'm guilty of choosing the world impossible far too often.

In my lifetime, we have seen several examples of both good and evil where the word impossible had to drop its first two letters.

Another hero of mine once famously said,

"Things are only impossible until they are not."- Jean-Luc Picard.

Easter is also a challenge. Jesus rising from the dead is a miraculous starting point. It's not the end of the story. We are invited into the story to create life wherever we go. There's a saying from the black church tradition, "Wherever you go, leave a little heaven behind you."

Living a life that brings heaven to earth is not easy. There are powerful forces pitting themselves against the power of peace, hope, and love. The task of bringing about peace in the world does not rest on our shoulders.

In recent years, I've come to appreciate a rabbinic saying that says, "You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it."

Easter is greater than any one person.

Easter is not a one-and-done event.

I believe these things to be true, and I embrace the hope that we will live in the abundant possibilities of life. I embrace the promise that life is greater than death, and I embrace the challenge of working for peace in the world.

My friend, I wish this for you as well.

Christ is risen indeed