Easter Hope

The Easter song I've sang every single Easter of my life;

"Low in the grave He lay,..Jesus my Saaaavyour.
Waiting the coming daay,...Jesus my Lorrd...
(piano part,..bom bom bom bom)
(now sing this next part faster)
Up from the grave He arose
With a mighty pow'r o're His foes,...

Jae used to get that last line mixed up.
We still smile when the rest of the congregation sings "with a mighty Pow'r o're His foes" because WE remember her version of...."with a mighty fire on His toes...."

On a serious note,.. I'm ashamed to say that for years, the Easter/resurrection story may have been a bit too familiar to me.
Sing the same songs.
Hear the same sermons.
See the same people.
Wear the same new clothes.

Then death nearly killed me.

Singing songs about joy, life and how death has no sting suddenly became difficult.
It wasn't that I was angry,..but I was bewildered.
I was trying to reconcile the feeling of pain with the boisterous joy everyone else was singing about.

This Sunday, I will once again sing all the same songs. I suspect I will hear the same sermon and see the same people. Probably wear the same clothes.
But one thing has become different since 2004:
The Easter message of Resurrection will never ever again become dull and familiar.

Life and death happens all around every one of us.
Jesus has made a way for little-ole me (and you) to live with Him forever.
He has made a way for us to reunite with our loved ones lost through death.

What an amazing story.