Happy Easter

What a glorious day!  Imagine the women rushing to the tomb early this morning. It is still dark. They are distraught over Jesus' death and wondering who will roll back the stone for them, as they went to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus (Mark 16: 1-3).  Matthew tells us that "all of a sudden there was a violent earthquake, for the angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled away the stone and sat on it. His face was like lightening, his robe white as snow" (Mt. 28: 1-4).

The women expected to anoint a dead body, say their goodbyes once again, and leave the tomb as hopeless and downtrodden as they had come.  Is that not what often happens in our lives?  We face the same distressing, hopeless situation deprived of life, depleted of joy, nothing new!  We may have been hoping for some kind of miracle and none came; nothing happens.  Then "all of a sudden" something "rolled away the depression, changed the hardened heart of a loved one or our own; a tragic accident averted, transformed paralytic limbs restored to movement, or a phone call comes for the needed transplant and life is changed forever.Out of nowhere, so it seems "...the angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled away the stone and sat on it"!

At last night glorious celebration of Jesus' resurrection,  I wondered where my Easter joy was. I seemed so blah, not the usual exuberance about Easter. Did I lose my faith? It was alive on Good Friday. What happened?   I shared my concerns with the Lord.  He seemed awfully quiet.  This morning, I went to Easter Sunday liturgy and felt somewhat renewed but not to the extent that I usually experience Easter.

Then it happened as I was going out for an afternoon stroll. I met someone with whom I have been at odds for about six months. I knew she was angry with me. She would not make eye contact with me, would say things within my hearing range that were hurtful and stopped dropping in for quick visits.  Today, Easter Sunday, we met as I left the building for my daily walk. We talked out our differences, as she, too, felt my anger--yes, I was angry with her also for several reasons. We shared the reasons for our anger.  The "stone" had been rolled back; the anger dissolved with forgiveness and reconciliation.  I had met Jesus! Truly He had risen from the dead debris of my life.