An Easter lesson

The trouble with life-changing events is that the change usually comes about after a catastrophic event that is so frightening that one would suffer any difficulty involving change to avoid the reoccurrence of such an event. We would be enormously better off if we could change first and avoid the event altogether.

What I mean is husbands and wives, you need to become more loving and lovable before the inevitable divorce. Employees, be more courteous and supportive of your employer before your employer’s business fails and you lose your paycheck. Parents, model sober driving always for that teenager in your home who watches you with eagle eyes. Christians, Jews, Muslims, etc. don’t just talk your faith, live that “Golden Rule.” Accord to all people respect and courtesy, deserved or undeserved, but stand-up for the right and fair and just.

We’re taught that “right living” will pay big dividends. Unfortunately, many have come to believe that doing the right thing always pays off in the long run. I ascribe to that belief, but I realize that there might be a longer “run” than expected. At sometime in our aging process, we begin to see that life often times is cruel with no explanation for that cruelty. Loved ones suffer or are lost, and blindfolded justice truly seems to be blind. We wonder what horrible act we’ve committed that could bring such a judgment upon us, and we commit ourselves to changing to such an extent that never again would such a tragedy envelope us.

The world seems to operate in this same manner with civil wars, famines, epidemics, genocide, and poverty seemingly necessary to bring about change. It all seems so hopeless and frustrating, and then the wheelchair borrowed to accommodate the onset of difficult times sits empty as your dear one walks again, and the walker stands forlornly in the corner as its use goes by the way. And the ramp, that beautiful ramp that offers mobility shines with un-scuffed paint ready for its chance to be useful again. It’s then you realize that the “run” is an individual event, and that the Easter event wasn’t a catastrophe after all. It was a lesson that love and integrity cost, and the price can be quite high.

Thanks to the Easter lesson, we found that the price was paid ahead for humanity.