Rolling away the stone

Image by Gidon Pico from Pixabay

By Lisabet Sarai

As the SNSD author responsible for the 31^st of each month (well, each month that has 31 days), I have the fun of posting on a lot of holidays: New Year’s Eve, Halloween, my birthday (January 31^st) and so on.

This year, March 31^st also happens to be a holiday, namely Easter Sunday. I’m not conventionally religious, but still, I find myself touched by the spirit of this observance. Easter celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, the rebirth of hope after despair. The story of resurrection after crucifixion has universal meaning because we’ve all been through desperate and difficult times at some point in our lives: the collapse of a dream, the loss of a loved one, the prospect of physical or mental deterioration. Pain, grief, destitution, madness – almost everyone has spent some time entombed in the dark. Easter is a reminder that even the worst trials pass.

For me, perhaps the darkest time was during my teens and twenties, when I came close to dying from an eating disorder. As I starved my body, I struggled against the demons in my mind, who whispered that I was a ravenous glutton too disgusting to deserve life. My disease kept me in its vicious grip for years, robbing me of peace and joy. I was alive, but existence was an empty shell, a daily battle with obsession.

Fortunately, with a lot of help and care, I managed to climb out of that black pit of misery. I resumed my interrupted education. I gradually repaired the damage I’d done to my body. I learned to love and trust people, to believe that they were not trying to make me fat. Eventually I built a productive career, solid relationships, a life full of delightful adventures and deep satisfaction.

Easter reminds me of that desperate time so many decades ago. Anorexia buried me, but love rolled away the stone and set me free. And I’ve come to believe that we all have the power to emerge from our personal sepulchers, whatever they might be. The sun always rises, even after the blackest night. We may find it as hard to believe this as did the apostles. The sun, however, doesn’t need our faith.

Of course Easter is also a celebration of spring, the quickening of the natural world. Long before the time of Jesus, many cultures told stories about the earth’s rebirth after the dark days of winter. If you do a bit of reading, you’ll discover that those myths often incorporated notions of a hero’s death and resurrection.

Suffering is real. But hope never dies. The morning will come eventually, if we wait and trust.

By the way – If you’re reading this and you have a few more minutes, can I ask you to visit the Charity Sunday post at my blog?

https://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com/2024/03/charity-sunday-easter-sunday-for-just.html

Leave me a comment there. I’ll make a donation to a worthy cause for each one. Come celebrate Easter with me and make the world a little brighter.

Thank you!