“We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song.” The greatest gift of Easter Sunday is our hearing and experiencing God’s amazing love for us.  Jesus’s rising from the dead is our hope of resurrection. This amazing love of God gives us everything and never abandons us.  Since that first Easter morning, we continue to celebrate the power of God to open the chains of death so that we might see life in its fullness.  No matter what we experience now we must say “Alleluia anyhow!” Never let your problems get you down for it is Christ who will help us to rise above our circumstances to be rooted again in the love of God that comes to us through Christ Jesus.

Out of the darkness, Christ shows his light to the world. His resurrection changes the history of salvation and gives our suffering purpose. We have the freedom to live our lives as God intended and experience real joy and happiness. Even when we are buried in our sorrows, we can hold onto the hope that eternal joy is coming and God shall comfort us in our sufferings.

As Christians, we have seen and heard the comforting words of the Lord.  Do we really believe the Word of God that tells us that we will rise again?  Throughout our many experiences, our concerns for the environment, and the struggle for racial justice, we hear God calling us to faith and hope. It is God’s initiative that brings us hope in spite of all our fears and worries.  We have come a long way from where we started. When we look back over our lives and just recall where God has brought us, we will begin to tremble! 
 
Our concern for people in the United States and other parts of our world where people suffer unjustly is only one example of our Easter faith.  Our faith is put into action when we, like Mary Magdalene, see the empty tomb and begin our search for the Lord. We hear the lord calling our name and we tell the world, “Jesus is alive!” and we will live again!
 
Easter is not just one Sunday. Easter is a way of life. It is a life where Christ is always at the center lifting us from the things that keep us in the grave and do not allow us to experience the life that God intends for us. As an “Easter people,” we know what it means to rise from the grave and experience life as God has prepared for us. When life’s problems come your way, lift your head up high and say, Alleluia anyhow! 
 
May we continue to experience what a relationship with GOD is all about as we celebrate the new life that comes from the Risen Lord Jesus.