I love Easter. I love Spring.
Spring wasn't always my favorite season. In fact, it used to be my least favorite at some point. Don't ask me why, I don't remember. You may ask me why it's my favorite though:
- It's beautiful! I love all of the flowers and colors. Especially the yellow bushes that pop up everywhere, they're my favorite!
- There's popcorn on the apricot trees!
- Confused? Click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiRVaey_OCA
- I still remember the morning I looked into my back yard at my apricot trees and though "Oh! That's where the song gets it!" Cool stuff my friends.
- It's warming up. No more freezing cold weather! (Well, sometimes.)
- New Beginnings. It's a chance for change.
- Why?
- Easter!
I knew the basics of what Easter was about. I know that Easter was the day we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. I knew (although I was very confused about this in my earlier years) that baby chicks, baby bunnies, and flower were all symbols of new life and new beginnings, both of which were made possible by the one and only Jesus Christ.
I have had the privilege of having this knowledge for as long as I can remember, and for that I am grateful. However, it hasn't been until the recent years of my life where I took the time to ponder the true meaning of Easter, what it meat to those in Christ's time, and what is means to me now.
For those of you who aren't too familiar with Christianity or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I just used a bunch of church jargon you may not understand. Let me take the time now to define and simplify some of what I have said and what I am going to say:
Ponder: To take the time to think deeply about something and internalize the idea. Like taking a tangled mess in your brain and sorting it out to a point where you can understand it; or taking something you understand pretty well and gain a deeper understanding and application to your own life.
Apostle: Those Jesus Christ called to help teach the gospel, or the message Christ was to teach us.
Atonement: The process Jesus went through to atone for our sins, meaning He suffered the full penalty for our sins so we don't have to when we repent. It includes His suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, His Crucifixion, and His Resurrection.
https://www.lds.org/topics/atonement-of-jesus-christ?lang=eng
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2011/04/the-miracle-of-the-atonement?lang=eng
Jesus Christ: The son of God who performed the atonement. Our brother. The only begotten son of God. What does that mean? Here: https://www.lds.org/ensign/2010/12/jesus-christ-is-the-only-begotten-son-of-god?lang=eng
Resurrection: Rising from the dead. Coming back to life. Christ's Resurrection made it so we can all live again one day.
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2000/04/resurrection
Crucifixion: Christ was sentenced to death by those who were against them and those He taught. He was put to death on the cross. What this to see what that day entailed:
https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/jesus-is-scourged-and-crucified?lang=eng
Repentance: Recognizing wrongdoings and asking forgiveness from God. A change of heart so that sin is no longer desirable to you.
https://www.lds.org/ensign/2003/11/repentance-and-change
Garden of Gethsemane: Where Jesus felt every pain that ever had been or will be felt by every human being that ever lived and will live. Because of this, justice for sin is appeased, we can be shown mercy and we can be forgiven; we can change.
https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/the-savior-suffers-in-gethsemane?lang=eng
Spirit World: Where we go after we die. We wait in either spirit prison or spirit paradise for judgement day.
https://www.lds.org/liahona/1977/12/the-spirit-world-our-next-home?lang=eng
Ordinances: Steps we take in order to make it back to live with Heavenly Father (heaven).
https://www.lds.org/topics/ordinances?lang=eng&query=ordinances+and+covenants
If you have any more questions or if you want clarification, feel free to ask or go to lds.org. Just type in anything you want to learn more about into the search bar and a list of articles and videos on that topic will come up.
This is also a great source:
https://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/english/pdf/language-materials/36863_eng.pdf OR
https://www.lds.org/manual/true-to-the-faith?lang=eng
Happy Searching!
Now back to my story.
One of my favorite feelings is the feeling of relief. When that feeling of pain finally goes away; when you wake up from a terrible nightmare and realize it was just a dream; when you find out your friend isn't actually going to move; or when you realize that huge assignment isn't actually due tomorrow. It's a great feeling. However, the relief, excitement, and overwhelming joy these situations might bring is only a drop in the ocean of relief, excitement and overwhelming joy felt on that first Easter morning. It's a feeling that millions of people got to feel. It was certainly a glorious morning.
Image yourselves in these situations:
For the people in the Americas:
The day after Christ was crucified, there was a day of darkness and storms. Imagine waking up and realizing that the sun isn't coming up today. Your hear thunder, you hear screams, you may have no idea where your family and friends are. This went on for a night, a day, and a night. For those who did not know about Christ, they were scared and had no idea what was going on. For those who did know about Christ, odds were they also knew that this darkness was a sign of Christ's death. So not only did they have to deal with the darkness and the storms, they had to deal with the grief of knowing their Savior was now gone off the Earth.
3 Nephi 8: 20, 23 -
20 And it came to pass that there was thick darkness upon all the face of the land, insomuch that the inhabitants thereof who had not fallen could afeel the bvapor of darkness;
23 And it came to pass that it did last for the space of three days that there was no light seen; and there was great mourning andahowling and weeping among all the people continually; yea, great were the groanings of the people, because of the darkness and the great destruction which had come upon them.
https://www.lds.org/manual/book-of-mormon-student-manual/chapter-40-3-nephi-8-11?lang=eng
For those in Christ's Community:
They experienced this similar darkness for 3 hours after Christ passed away. On top of that, many of the people in this community knew Christ, were blessed by Him, were given hope through Him, and loved Him. His dearest friends grieved for the loss of their friend. His parents, Mary and Joseph, grieved for the loss of their son. His apostles were feeling this plus a sense of, I think, "What in the world do we do now?" I can only image the pain of these people experienced during this time.
Then, Sunday morning came.
That morning Mary Magdalene, came with others to Christ's tomb only to find it empty. You can imagine her fear in not knowing where her friend's body was, or whether or not it was stolen. She sat in a garden crying when a man came up to her and asked why she was sorrowful. Mary, not knowing who she was talking to, asked where the body had been taken so that she could take it away. Imagine her joy, surprise, and overwhelming relief to see Jesus Christ standing next to her.
For those in the Americas, the storms subsided and the light came back. Soon enough, those believers in the Americas would get to see their long-awaited resurrected Savior with their own eyes.
What a glorious morning.
I love this story. To me, it's one of the greatest examples of "blessings in disguise." You know, like when you lose a job and turn around to find one a million times better for you, when you miss the bus and end up meeting an old friend you haven't seen in years, or when you get sick and have to miss a hike that you might have broken you leg on. Those kinds of things.
Well, in this case, a tragedy for thousands of people turned out to be a miraculous blessing for not only them, but for all who ever did live and ever will live (Hey, that's us!).
We call this miraculous blessing the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
It gave us a purpose here.
He gave us a pathway back to our Heavenly Father.
Without it, we would be doomed to be dead bodies laying the ground for eternity.
What does that mean to me?
First of all, I'm not doomed to be a dead body in the ground forever, that's a nice feeling. I get to be a perfect being one day, a perfect, resurrected being with a heavenly purpose.
I will always have someone who can say "I KNOW how you feel." The day before He was crucified, Christ made this possible in the Garden of Gethsemane. He felt all of our pains, all of my pains, exactly as we would feel them so he could empathize with us. He went through this so He could know exactly how to heal us and make us feel better. Now that's love. (That's right, Christ loves YOU!)
I will be able to be with my family for eternity. I can see my Padre again. I can be sealed to my future family just like I am sealed to my current family. Death is NOT the end. It is only a transition. This is something I didn't know until recently, but the Saturday between Christ's crucifixion and resurrection, He set the foundations for temples. He established away for those in the spirit world (our ancestors) to learn about the gospel and have a chance to accept it. Because of that Saturday, we have missionaries in the spirit world just like here on earth. Down here, we have the opportunity do family history work and perform saving ordinances in the temple for our ancestors that they didn't get the chance to do down here.
I have reason for hope. Satan has already been conquered. I know that thinks will work out, and that everything will be okay. Whether it be the biggest of worries or smallest of concerns, I know things will work out in the end.
Hang on my friends. Hang on through your 'dark days,' and know that the light will come.
This is what Easter means to me. Hope that light will always break though the darkness. Always. If not now in this life, it certainly will in the eternities. Keep your chin up darlin'! And yes, I mean you!
Happy Easter everyone.
