Notes on Easter
Easter is the season of new beginnings, of the unexpected surprise, of wonder, and of grace. Those of us who have been Christians know this. We observe and remember this every year. Yet isn’t it interesting how we even use the occasion of Easter as a time of “doing the same old thing.” We get caught in the trap of holding on to the tradition even when the tradition is the unexpected surprise. Leslie Weatherhead’s question is as relevant now as it was years ago when he first asked “Which side of Easter do you live on?” Are we stuck in the old or open to the new thing God is doing?…has already done?
As older adults we have to ask ourselves if we are alive today or stuck in the past. When the question is asked we always answer “I live for today,” but our actions often betray us. The fact is, as we get older we need to work at doing new things. We do not need to change everything, of course, but we need to continue to learn new things and have new experiences to keep us from becoming stagnant. Science tells us that our brains actually need to be exercised to fight dementia. Our brains need new experiences to keep vital. Actually, so do our lives. Easter reminds us that there is an unexpected surprise awaiting each of us and all of us. Are you open to it, or are you stuck on the other side of Easter…still in Lent? Nothing is more deadly than the same old thing over and over again. There is no life in it. Everything doesn’t have to change at once, of course, but we can and need to make regular small changes to keep things vital, to keep us open to new possibilities.
The basic requirement to living a life of faith is looking ahead rather than looking back. This is a message that our society needs to hear, receive, and practice. We are in the midst of a rapidly changing world where the call is not to go back but to find the way forward. The challenge is to find our way through the problems to a better tomorrow. Scripture is full of times like this. The story of Joseph in the Old Testament and Joseph in the New Testament are stories about such challenging times. Moses faced such challenges during the Exodus. And the disciples certainly faced change and unknown after Jesus.
So, the basic question we ask ourselves is this. Are we looking back or ahead? To live looking back is to be forever forlorn and wistful. To live looking ahead is best described by the prophet…”and their old men shall dream dreams and their young men shall see visions.”
With the perspective of faith, of the good news, life is great. And when you hear someone say “who changed things?” you will know you are still alive and Easter is still real.
Jerry M. James
