| Sunny Side Up! April 11, 2001 Copyright 2001, Kathleen Gibson And It Was Easter �Mommy can�t laugh anymore.� The matter-of-fact statement coming from one so young shocked me. We were decorating an Easter tree - a bare branch we had painted white, stuck in a bucket of sand � with little sheep, crosses, Lilliputian eggs. But trouble was visiting that home. The mother was in a fragile state of health after a complete mental collapse. The father, clutching desperately to the knot at the end of his rope, was swinging wildly from despair to hope. The couple�s three children, ages three to seven, sat with me around the table pretending everything was normal � until that horrible sentence. And it was Easter. No chocolate bunny could sweeten this wound. A fellow writer sent an email last week. �We are having a terrible time,� she wrote. �Who would have thought that the death of one person could have such an impact?� But that person was a son, laughing one moment, gone in less time than it took for the echo of grinding metal to stop reverberating in his parents� ears. And it is Easter. No fluffy puppy can fill the void, even if his nickname is Comfort Dog, she said. �I have twenty-eight days�, my friend whispered, �before I have to leave the country.� She hopes to stay in Canada, but the decision isn�t in her hands. She�s waiting for a word from the government. The wrong word, and she�ll be sent back to live in one of the world�s most dangerous countries for a woman on her own. And it�s Easter. No new dress can cover the body of that uncertainty. I stood in an inner city mission in Vancouver less than two weeks ago, doling out day-old-donuts, sandwiches, and coffee. A young man came through the line. He had come from Yorkton, he said, about five years ago. His name was Darcy - forgive me for not remembering his surname; there were so many men. He said work was hard to find. He was hungry. And here it is, Easter. A turkey dinner will fill him, but what good is a full stomach if the backbone of the soul is crumbling? Holiday seasons should be exempt from trouble. But, like Old Man River, it just keeps rollin� along. Christian scriptures teach that Jesus died to address the problem of evil in the heart - not to relieve the world of human pain and suffering. His resurrection is celebrated because it brings victory over the power of darkness, hope in the midst of trouble. A relationship with the God�s Son brings resources that are peace-giving, stabilizing, forward-looking. The more intimate the relationship, the more like Christ his followers become. That�s what changes the world - the extended helping hand, the encouraging word, the generous spirit, the pure heart. All reflections of the spirit of Christ. Decorated eggs, new clothes, and hollow chocolate bunnies and � they�re okay too. But don�t settle for a hollow Easter. Explore the meaning of the cross and the empty tomb. Joyous Easter! You can respond to this column at [email protected] or by writing this paper directly. |