The Hindu : Hope out of despondency

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 19, 2003

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous - Religion

Hope out of despondency

CHENNAI APRIL 19 . Easter commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Religious festivals encapsulate immortal seeds of truth that belong to the essence of our humanity. The joys of Eid and Diwali belong to all of us, not only to Muslims and Hindus, as also the brimming of hope that comes with Easter. Easter symbolises an assault on hopelessness of which death is the grimmest exemplar. Spirituality is the eye that sees hope in situations of hopelessness. The opening of the tomb of Jesus is a symbol of this spiritual reality. "Weeping may endure through the night," says Psalm 30, "but joy comes in the morning." It is only through the eyes of the Spirit that the joyous morning beyond the sorrowful night can be seen. The alternative is despair and suicide.

Easter is not only a one-off event that happened 2000 years ago, unique to Jesus of Nazareth. It is a pointer to the possibilities latent in the human situation. There comes a time in the life of every human being when it seems as though the dead-end of life is reached. The future, life itself seems, buried like the body of Jesus, embalmed and put away in a rock-hewn tomb. To those in this plight, Easter is the assurance that night is also the pathway to morning.

There is such a thing as a new beginning that holds the key to possibilities even more glorious. This applies not only to individuals but also to people-groups and nations. Every society contains the seed of its regeneration. Every nation is running parallel to its glorious potential. If only we would shift to a different level and together claim the wonders that await us, we could have celebrated the Easter of our national destiny.

It is impossible to reflect on Easter this year without remembering the people of Iraq. Will they leave the tomb of oppression behind and begin a new tryst with their destiny? Easter is much more than opening a tomb. It is a pilgrimage from slavery to freedom, from repression to responsibility, and from the darkness of depravity to the light of a new humanity. It was for this that Jesus had come. He entered the tomb of humanity and opened its gate to unveil a new world of freedom where we are free to love and to be human. Easter is light breaking out of darkness.

Valson Thampu,

New Delhi

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