Easter reminds us death has to come for resurrection to happen

We are invited to trust there is a greater mystery and to embrace life more fully

A few days ago, my young daughter cried out, “Dad, Easter is coming!”

Curious to know her understanding of Easter, I asked: “What does that mean?”

She replied, “Well, that’s the day the Easter Bunny comes and leaves us chocolate eggs.”

She beamed. This is a child’s understanding of Easter. It’s hard to resist the joy of kids discovering chocolate eggs. Easter eggs symbolize new life and new birth.

But as we mature, we expect a deeper understanding.

Perhaps nature is our next teacher, “God’s first Bible.”

With spring, the world awakens with new life from the dead of winter. Creation sings of resurrection and new life.

In the Easter season, we recognize life’s darkness. Sadly, judgment, suffering and crucifixion are not past experiences — they are realities we live with daily. Easter proclaims there is hope and renewal in the face of this darkness. For Christians, we can’t ignore Good Friday.

So often, we won’t allow things to die. Old grudges fester, tired relationships become toxic, negative ways of doing things remain, and we refuse to let things die. We drift into an unhealthy limbo land of neither death, nor life. Death has to happen for resurrection to come.

Easter recognizes that this is the central pattern of life. For Christians, Easter is the most defining event in the life of faith. It is the story of Jesus’ defeat of judgment and death 2,000 years ago, and Resurrection. We don’t fully agree on what Resurrection means: some embrace a more literal view; others call these metaphors of new life.

Regardless, Resurrection is indeed about rebirth and transformation. Easter isn’t simply a memorial of the past; Easter happens now. When forgiveness is realized, a new way is forged, a destructive cycle ends, and a peace that passes understanding is experienced — in these and other ways — Easter is known.

The Easter story is about trust, and letting go is the way.

As Jesus cried from the cross, “Into your hands I commit my spirit,” faith is really about trusting that something new can emerge. It is scary to let go.

Easter is also a time to consider the mystery of life beyond death.

Easter suggests that death is not the end, that there is a dimension called life-afterdeath. I am quick to say, however, true faith isn’t centred on the afterlife. Meaningful faith is about working and serving here on Earth, so that we all experience resurrection here and now in this life.

Yet, at Easter, we will remember those who have died, and consider our own mortality.

The Bible suggests many metaphors to describe this death mystery. Life after death is described as a feast, a party, a pit stop, a reunion, or a final homecoming. Ultimately, I believe everyone is “welcomed home” at death to discover the fullness of a divine love that accepts us no matter what. Here we are fully known and our understanding is complete.

Easter is also about “seeing” in a new way. It is the practice of non-judgment. It is about open heartedness.

Easter invites us to trust there is a bigger picture, a deeper story, a greater mystery inviting us to embrace life fully. This way of seeing shows us that we are all loved, forgiven and set free, and calls on us to live love everyday in our lives.

In a sense, Easter happens every day in the ways we choose to let things die, while trusting there is more.

In doing so, compassion, kindness and justice are born.

We don’t make Easter happen, it happens through us when we are open to newness.

Choosing meaningful ways of living opens us to a glimpse of heaven here on Earth.

The meaning of Easter is a mystery we must experience — in nature, in relationships, in our actions in the world. It is a stance that welcomes hope and trust in something more.

Perhaps the taste of chocolate Easter eggs awaken us to this sweet creative mystery and joyful truth.