“Human beings are the only creatures on Earth that claim a god and the only living thing that behaves like it hasn’t got one.”
~ The Rum Diaries~
The above quote comes from a novel written by Hunter Thompson, but it could just as well have been written by God himself. After all, we just killed His Son in the most agonizing way developed by man; never mind that to keep ourselves “clean” and “faithful” we turned the dastardly deed over to the Romans so not to violate the Commandments. It seems that the role of conspirator gives us a level of comfort having been removed from the actual killing, kind of like voting for capital punishment without actually pulling the lever.
The Good News is that God was not about to throw in the towel. The sky turns black, and the earth begins to rumble. In fear, we all run to the safety of our homes, palm branches still in our hands. There is no safety from what is about to happen. The stone is rolled away from the hole in the ground where the Light has been pent up by the evil forces of this world. This Light shall not be overcome. The darkness cannot contain it. No force on earth can keep it from shining. No force on earth can keep it from telling the truth, for its burden is light and the Light has become the life of men, all men everywhere.
So, before the palm branches had wilted, the Light has filled the sky, all creation has gotten a new start, for this is a God not just of second chances but of multiple chances…of endless chances. Like the father standing in the road yearning for his lost son to return, or the woman searching frantically for the lost coin, this God will never give up on His children. He will never turn from them. He will never take from them the last opportunity to RETURN. This God loves us more than we love ourselves.
The mystery of Easter isn’t that God has come to earth, or that He was willing to suffer and die. The real mystery of Easter is that He did it for the only creature on earth willing to live as though He doesn’t exist.
HAPPY EASTER
Father Bill Myrick
